Sustainable Fishing? Ecological Footprint Analysis of an Artisanal Fishing Organization

Background: Small-scale fisheries are an important economic sector in terms of employment, national food security, enterprise development and foreign exchange earnings. Overfishing is one of the main impacts directly affecting fisheries. However, there are other kinds of global impacts not frequently considered. The ecological footprint indicator is not new but has been mostly overlooked by scholars in the artisanal fishing sector. The aim of this study was to evaluate the corporate ecological footprint of small-scale fisheries through a fishing cooperative at La Cruz de Loreto in Mexico, and determine its eco-efficiency as non-direct global impacts. Methods: The Compound Method Based on Financial Accounts (MC3.V.2 for its acronym in Spanish, version 2) was used. It includes the categories of emissions, materials, resources, services and contracts, land use and waste. Results: Eco-efficiency, determined by the organization´s ecological footprint, was 0.6 t/ha and its carbon footprint was 0.2 t/tCO2 per year, a low one when compared to others. The consumption category that contributed most to the footprint was indirect emissions and the ecosystem’s fossil energy, which could be explained by the characteristics of the fishing cooperative analyzed. Conclusion: The corporate ecological footprint for La Cruz de Loreto fishing cooperative is low when compared to others, but it indicates that they should improve in the category of indirect emission (reduce the consumption of electricity generated by fossil fuel and use of alternative energy) and should invest in the “forest” type of ecosystem to increase carbon sinks and mitigate the impacts.

The Decision-Making Process in the New Products Development of the Fishery Cooperative in the Community of Las Arenitas Eldorado, Sinaloa

Objective: Design a decision-making model for the development of new products in the fishing cooperative societies of the community Las Arenitas, Eldorado, Sinaloa. Methodology: In accordance with the methodology used, it was classified as qualitative. A case study was carried out in the „Jose Luis Castro Verduzco” fishing cooperative located in Sinaloa, Mexico, where a series of open questions were applied to obtain the opinion of the manager and secretary about the decision making process. Findings: The lack of clarity in the role of the actors in the decision-making process and their specific steps when developing new products was identified. Knowledge about the use of tools is limited, mainly due to the low levels of preparation of managers and members of the cooperative, as well as the lack of knowledge of the processes for the development of new products. Value Added: The study allowed identifying the need for design a method that guides the manager and members of the fishing cooperative in the community of Las Arenitas Eldorado, Sinaloa, towards activities that generate added value in primary products and reduce uncertainty in the decision-making process for the development of new products caused by changes in the needs of the consumer market. Value Added: The study allowed identifying the need for design a method that guides the manager and members of the fishing cooperative in the community of Las Arenitas Eldorado, Sinaloa, towards activities that generate added value in primary products and reduce uncertainty in the decision-making process for the development of new products caused by changes in the needs of the consumer market. Recommendations: The use of a decision-making process is of vital importance for the administration since it contributes to assess, analyze and control situations to choose the best option for the company. Within this project the fishing cooperative has a lot of growth potential, for this reason the implementation of methods such as: The ordered weighted averaging operators OWA or multicriteria analysis for decision making in the development of new products.

The formulation of the strategy in the cooperative

The strategy is an important process for change in organizations; is an effort to find an ever closer relationship between society, individuals and their organizations, in an essentially interrelated world. The organization not only has a context but also an internal configuration and the cooperative is not an exempt of this. This document presents partial findings of the study which analyzed the formation of the fishing cooperative strategy in Sinaloa and the factors involved for its creation. Data were collected through semistructured interviews to fishermen whose play the roles of managers in cooperatives. The results indicate that in the fishing cooperative, its strategy arises from the mind of a manager with limited cognitive abilities and limited information, biased and considering the manager’s intuition, and because the members of the cooperative said that the fishing process is well-know to him but he is not qualified to lead to the organization. From the above it is concluded that in the fishing cooperative, its strategies are formed informally, in the short term, from its management capabilities, identifying the need for training programs for members of the organization, so that they will have the elements necessary to formulate and implement appropriate strategies for these organizations

The organizational culture in the fishing cooperative society of Sinaloa

Organizational culture is a phenomenon that identifies members of the fishing cooperative “Peninsula Lucenilla” as part of the values, symbols, ideology, customs, language, among others. The importance of organizational culture identifies those who belong to a union, because they are hard-working, talkative, enthusiastic, responsible, and ethical people. Research aimed to analyze the organizational culture in the fishing cooperative of Sinaloa. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach; through a study case. Data collection was carried out from members of the cooperative, as well as a couple of interviews to the president. The main results of the study indicate that organizational culture in the fishing cooperative of Sinaloa is manifested in all of the activities that fishermen performed when the ban is lifted, how shrimp and other fishes are delivered. Based on that, we conclude that organizational culture identifies those who belong to an organization that represents the lifestyle of fishermen, for example; as in the case of a fishing cooperative.

PELUANG REVITALISASI KOPERASI NELAYAN (STUDI KASUS KOPERASI NELAYAN KOTA BENGKULU)

Fishing cooperatives is an institution that can serve as a forum to improve the welfare of fishing communities . The aim of this study is to assess the fishing cooperative revitalization opportunities. Primary data is used to outlining the problems of this study with sample of 50 people and using SWOT analysis. The discussion is limited to lifting cases in Kopnel Bengkulu city. The results showed that the institutional of Kopnel Bengkulu City is weak , but have considerable opportunities to develop, so it is good to do revitalization . Keywords: Fishing cooperatives, revitalization, SWOT, Bengkulu City.