Fernández Carrasco, P., Pozo Menéndez, E., 2013. Chilean Caletas: more than artisan fishing villages.

As is widely known, Chile is a country characterized by its vast expanse of coastline, one of the main factors that have shaped Chilean culture throughout its history. Local people have been exploiting marine resources since records began and, currently, fishing is still one of the strongest economic sectors. Artisan fishing villages, are placed in this context. In 1998, more than four hundred fishing villages were legally recognized along the coast. Since then, they have been gradually regularized in order to protect fishermen's activity as well as to ensure the development of marine environment. In the last years, these villages have experienced a huge population growth, despite local infrastructures and equipments showing a lack of basic services and an unstable situation which could be categorised as poverty. The main objective of this research work is to analyse every fishing village by using particular and global approaches. This will lead us to the formulation and compilation of several development projects in order to allow the fishing villages to be considered as a main factor in coastal management, policy and planning. In addition, we have started the creation of a dynamic database that will offer a great opportunity to share information at different levels, by means of connecting local people with experts related in many different fields. Thus, an alternative answer to coastal development is proposed, including the three main sustainable characters: society, environment and economy.