Shifting Landscapes: Informal Economic Practices in the Georgian Port City of Poti

This paper explores the reactions of Poti’s residents, a small port city in Georgia, to the changes and development resulting from the Rose Revolution in 2003. Specifically, it analyses the reforms implemented by the revolutionary government aimed at negotiating relations with regard to the sea between private fishing companies and local fishers and shows how these reforms led to the establishment of new ‘informal maritime economic practices’. Contrary to the government’s intention of turning fishers and fish-smoking communities into successful entrepreneurs, the reforms strengthened previously existing informal networks and turned them into robust social safety nets. Using the informal economy approach, this paper emphasizes the importance of understanding the informal economic practices of post-Soviet Georgia as embedded in the social and cultural spheres. Moreover, I suggest that through specific informal practices and networks, city dwellers maintain their connection with the sea to reclaim their rights to maritime resources and a better future.