The Fisheries Local Action Groups (Flags) and the Opportunity to Generate Synergies Between Tourism, Fisheries and Culture

The last two European fisheries funds have provided an opportunity to finance projects seeking the development and job creation in fishing dependent areas. In this line, Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) have been created and they have been financing different types of projects, many of them linked to fisheries diversification through tourism. A part of these projects is linked to the recovery and enhancement of the marine and fishing culture, which has made possible the creation of a very complete network of maritime museums, cultural routes, etc. This work aims to identify, quantify and characterize cultural projects related to fishing financed in Spain through European fishing funds. A total of 136 cultural projects in five different categories have been found. The most popular projects through the two founding programs are related to tangible and intangible heritage projects and museums. The number of projects more or less maintained throughout the two periods is analyzed. Projects related to routes have been reduced by half from the first founding program, while festival projects more than doubled in the second founding program over the first.