This paper covers attitudes toward cooperation among small scale fishermen and farmers in the Azores. Many governments, international organizations, and individuals view the fishermen's cooperative as the ideal means of improving small scale fisheries. In some cases marked success has been reported and in others, failure. The successes have led many governmental and international aid organizations to make release of development funds contingent upon formation of fishermen's cooperatives for management purpose. This has led to increased pressure with regard to attempts to institute cooperative organizations.