Economics of science in fishery sector - the European case

Fisheries research organisations are described as large entities. In the Eu ropean Union, Iceland, Israel and Norway, one or two main fisheries researc h institutes have been identified. In this detailed examination, research p rogrammes in fisheries is presented in various technological fields. Theore tical knowledge of Evolutionary economics is used to understand the functio ning of fisheries research in these 17 countries. Concepts of technological trajectories, path-dependancy, technological lock-in are valuable. Six mai n technological trajectories synthetize the foundations of research in fish eries amongst European Union, Iceland, Israel and Norway. It deals with fis hery biology, fishing gear technology, aquaculture, ecology, quality (of ha bitat anf fish), and socioeconomics. For example, most of research institut es are concerned with the trajectory of fishery biology. In others cases, s pecificities exist in a few countries as socioeconomics. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.