Las Cofradías de Pescadores en Euskadi como entidades de la economía social

Abstract

By means of this study, we aim to justify that the Basque Fishermen's Associations fit into the concept of a Social Economy entity established by the Law 5/2011, from March 29, on Social Economy. Certainly, we consider that it is not enough that the aforementioned Law mentions the Fishermen´s Associations as an entity of the Social Economy, but it is necessary that, in practice, certain principles, easily identifiable in the Law, are complied. To that end, first, we will carry out a characterization of the Basque Fishermen´s Associations, in particular, in order to prove that, despite their legal nature of Public Law Corporation, they comply with the principle of independence from public powers. Then, we will analyse if, in practice, the Fishermen´s Associations comply with the rest of the guiding principles of the Social Economy, and if they also develop economic activity and satisfy the collective interest of their members, either the general economic and social interest, or both. It should be noted that in order to carry out this study, we have analysed in detail all the Statutes of the Basque Fishermen´s Associations.