The Development of The Rural Community and The Role of The Fishing Cooperative

Marcela Rebeca Contreras Loera, Elizabeth Olmos-Martinez

Rural communities are characterized by taking advantage of natural resources to carry out their economic activities; fishing cooperatives in Mexico emerge as a way of organizing shrimp harvesting and on the other hand represent an instrument to promote local development of the community. The objective of the study was to analyze the development of the rural community of Las Arenitas and the role of the fishing cooperative. The research was conducted with a qualitative approach; Information was collected through semi-structured interviews with managers of fishing cooperatives, complemented by analysis of documents and government reports. The results indicate that Las Arenitas is a rural community where fishing is its way of life and over time is gradually transformed and developed organized fishing through the integration of economic entities with cooperatives, which conform to fishermen Inhabitants of the community; On the other hand, also shows social changes since it improves the school, housing and infrastructure levels of the community.
In economic terms, cooperatives had boom times, however in recent years production has been unstable. With the above it is concluded that Las Arenitas from its origin to the present has been developed. The resources available allow fishing to be carried out as the main economic activity capable of detonating local development; the fishermen have been integrated into cooperatives as economic units of production.  However, they are currently facing a decline in production, which is an obstacle in the economic development of the community as the main unit of contribution to the community; for that reason it is necessary to promote complementary economic activities to stimulate the development of the locality.