An institutional analysis of Galician turbot aquaculture: Property rights system, legal framework and resistance to institutional change

Abstract

Galicia, located in the northwest of Spain, is one of the main producing regions of turbot in Europe. Although the beginnings of the sector date back to 1985, its consolidation and expansion took place in the 1990s when more than a dozen companies joined the sector. However, in recent years, the production has stagnated. Part of this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the new granting of occupancy of the maritime-terrestrial domain and the granting of activity licences to the sector have come to a standstill. This paper analyses the institutional framework of the sector from the perspective of the New Institutional Economics (NIE), describing the role of the public administration, the formal rules, the organization of the sector and the system of property rights. Thus, the actors and the previous legal framework that led to the legal paralysis of the sector will be characterized. There were three attempts to elaborate a definitive aquaculture plan but, due to the opposition of interest groups and the political dynamics of the Galician region, were cancelled.