In the first decades of the 20th century several fishing trusts arose in Giudecca, Caorle, Chioggia, and Burano. In the 40s several trusts of small-scale fishery, operating inside the lagoon and in marine coastal waters, were present in village such as S. Pietro in Volta, Cortellazzo, Pellestrina, Goro, and Gorino. The Coopesca Trust was first established in 1932, in Chioggia, and remained, for many years, the only small-scale fishery trust active in the area. Today Coopesca, Lagapesca, Mareazzurro, Coperativa Vongolari, and San Marco are among the fishing trusts operating in Chioggia’s area and including, in addition to lagoon and coastal fisheries, the trawling fishery, fishing off-shore on board modern vessels.Fishing licenses in Chioggia include both passive and active fishing techniques. Passive gears are placed in the water and catch fish passively, taking advantage of their movements or luring them with bait. They are typical of lagoon and coastal fisheries and include static gears (trammel nets, barracuda), traps, fyke nets and longlines. Active gears, instead, are pulled by boats and actively capture target species. They are used, in different models and sizes, both in open sea, along the coast, and inside the lagoon and include: different types of trawls (bottom, beam and pelagic trawlers), the seine net, the hydraulic dredge and the mechanical dredge.