The English FQA/PO system can be best characterised as “co- management by partnership” since, given the quota allocation system decided at central government level the POs have a consider- able degree of flexibility to manage quota at the local/sectoral level. It is important to appreciate that enforcement remains the task of Government while the ability to trade quota is restricted in the sense that permanent changes in quota “ownership” are still a relatively minor part of the overall trading activity. One of the major recent trends in the European
fishing sector has been the increasing role of the fishermen’s cooperatives (e.g. Producer Organizations—POs) in quota management. Various forms of co-management have been used, by delegation, by partnership, through self-management procedure or top-down hierarchical management. In France, the Central Administration has gradually transferred the allocation quota procedures between fishermen to local level.