Fishery Cooperative Operations

Excerpts from the report: People in the United States whose livelihood comes from farming the seas do not use near as much cooperative action as do those who farm the land. Further, U.S. fishermen are far behind fishermen of many other countries in the use of cooperatives. In 1974, a reported 102 cooperatives in the United States had 7,098 members, according to “Fisheries of the United States,” published by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The same publication reported 168,773 full- and part-time fishermen for the same year. Thus, about 1 in 24 fishermen was a cooperative member. This contrasts to agricultural cooperative memberships that exceed the number of farmers, because many farmers belong to more than one cooperative. Selected fishery cooperatives in this report provide information on capital requirements, scope of operations, costs and returns, problems, and benefits. These cooperatives perform the following services for members: 1. Provide or arrange for capital to conduct a successful business. 2. Reduce costs of inputs such as fuel, ice, and some boat and gear supplies. 3. Provide essential dockside services at cost such as unloading, sorting, and packing products; and 4. Increase returns from products by performing marketing services.