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| Fisheries management in post-communist Poland : prospects of user-participation - The Maszzoperias |
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Reference |
| Marciniak, Boguslaw & Jentoft Svein: " Fisheries management in post-communist Poland : prospects of user-participation" |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| Polish fishers have a long history in collective action and mutual self-help. The ' maszzoperias' are still vivid in the mind of fishers and bureaucrats despite the fact that only fragments of them remain today. Maszoperias were locally based co-operative organizations that, among other responsibilities used to manage access to local fishing grounds. There are those in Poland who believe that the maszoperias may serve, at least in part as a model for future fishing community organizations. There is now a legislation reform underway that may give them another chance within a new organizational framework.
The Maszoperias are first mentioned in a 1450 chronicle of the town Hel. Later they are identified in other communities along the Hel peninsula and in other areas along the Baltic coast. Their origin and particular organizational form stemmed from the rights to sections of water territory granted to village administrators, individuals or group of fishers, or to the church. In 1592 fishing by individuals were banned and the fishers were advised to form maszoperias with relatives, neighbours and friends. |
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Coverage of the Institution |
| Not reported |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| The maszoperias were comprised of owners of nets, fishers and apprentices, involving also family and other community members as helpers. Sometimes they recruited participants from neighbouring villages as well. Participants were named "maszops". The average size of a maszoperia had a core of 12-15 fishers. Extra helpers were recruited when needed, for instance when hauling. To be a member of a fishing family meant to be a member of certain maszoperia. In fact, the maszoperia were often called by the name of the first skipper that formed the maszoperia. A maszoperia employed several boats, boats and gears were individually owned and marked. each family had a basic symbol, with small additions to the main form identifying the particular family member. Members were obligated to bring their own nets. The maszoperia system had the following basic rules:
1. The right of every fisher to work individually or with a group in the coastal zone within the boundaries of each settlement.
2. Equal contribution in both gear and work of each fisher in collective fishing and therefore equal shares in the catch profits.
3. The right of sons of maszoperia members to participate in fishing according to the established terms.
Young recruits were exempted from bringing gear, entitling them to only half a share. Fisher widows received a 'full' part, while women and children participating in the hauling of nets were granted a 'quarter' of a full share. - a 'mandel'. Women were not permitted to become full members.The priest always received the largest salmon caught, the teacher the second largest. Sick and retired fishers also receive a share. Any community member who brought their basket down to the water front when fishers landed would get fish, reflecting the social value that no one should have to go hungry. |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| The skipper of the maszoperia was elected in a meeting of all the boat skippers. Usually the most oldest and the most experienced was chosen. The skipper could hold his position for decades, only in Hel village was he elected every year. The skipper ensured that norms were adhered to, he had the authority to remove people who did not do their job. He also decided on which boats young recruits should be placed - as a rule newcomers were assigned to the most experienced boat skippers. |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| Each maszoperia had its own territory 'szted' along the beach and further out. Internally each vessel was allocated its own space by the maszoperia. As it was well known that some grounds produced more fish than others, the maszoperia practiced a rotation system. If there were several maszoperias within one community, there would be a rotation system between them as well. (Refer fig 1 p-81 which shows how the system worked in the village of Kuznica). Fig 1 depicts the rotation system for the eel fishery. The village sea territory borders with the neighbouring villages Chalupy and Jastarnia.The maszoperias organized the fishery both on the sea and bay side. The fishery shifted from bay to coast depending on the season. In both cases, to ensure equal opportunity, boats would circulate from fishing ground to fishing ground in a co-ordinated fashion. The borders of the 'szted' were defined by markers ashore such as road crossings, houses, observation towers, hills etc. The specific grounds (szted) were often named after famous skippers, accidents that occurred there, or bottom formations. A fisher was forbidden to switch from one maszoperia to another during the same season. The catch was also shared equally between participating boats. The only exception from these rules is found in Hel village- here the allocation of fishing territory was decided by an annual lottery. There is no record of serious conflicts between villages with regard to the distribution of sea territory. The regulated territory stretched 2-3 km out from the beach. Further out the fishery was open access.
One fisher from Chalupy remembers that in the 1950s in his village there were two maszoperias; one operated on the east shore and the other on the west shore. and each year they switched. Internally, a boat was not allowed to return to the same 'szted' it had occupied the previous year. Every man brought one line. The total catch was divided equally within the boat crew, but not between boats within the maszoperia. The regulatory principles differed from species to species. In the salmon drift net fishery 'the -first-come-first-served' principle was applied on the fishing grounds. For salmon, only one boat was used - while other members of the maszoperias waited, watching from the shore. They all shared the catch and supplied a net marked with their personal sign. The fish was sold to a state company. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| - |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| - |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| The maszoperias existed more or less unaffected until World War II. Thereafter, changes in their organization started to appear. The traditional rule that members should bring boat or gear was eased. This opened up a wage-work relationship within the maszoperia, thus altering the egalitarian structure. Those employed without gear would receive half a 'part'. Wage workers were less committed to the fishery and they would frequently leave for other jobs. By 1950 nearly one third of all fishers on the Hel peninsula had status as worker-fishers. This change was partly related to the introduction of the cutter fishery, a development that accelerated in the 1950s as a consequence of the government's ambition to modernize the fishery. The cutters changed the nature of the fishery, as only few of them maintained some form of co-operation.
Gradually the egalitarian structure eroded and the traditional role of the skipper lost its force. Cutters usually fished in the open sea where space was plentiful. hence the need for a detailed co-ordination of fishing operations as provided by the maszoperias was not as urgent.
Working on a cutter was much more economically attractive for young people. For the same reason many of them also favoured a job in the deep sea fishery. Increasingly, the maszoperia artisanal fishery was reduced to employment only for older fishers. Further the role of the maszoperias as community welfare weakened, likewise, the tradition of skipper families was severed.Maszoperias were last registered in 1962. |
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Other Features of Institution |
| The functions of the maszoperias could vary from place to place but in general they were multipurpose. Mutual aid to fishers' families during emergencies was one of their social services. Widows of fishers and elderly people would get support, often over periods of many years. The maszoperias were also employed in regular community work such as road clearance, felling of trees, supplying wood for the school. In the middle ages they also formed a para-military unit of organization. |
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Purpose |
| Manage access to local fishing ground |
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Country |
| Poland |
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Region |
| Hel peninsula |
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Date Of Publication |
| RS- 3/12/98 |
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