European small-scale fisheries are confronted with several challenges, notably a decrease in the number of people engaged in capture fishing, growing competition from less expensive extra-EU markets, rising operational costs, strict regulations and the depletion of fishing stocks. Many small-scale fishers must adapt to change to maintain or increase their income using different business strategies. In this respect, we argue that new and diversified institutional arrangements combined with building social capital can help reach long-term economic sustainability for small-scale fisheries businesses, as well as the social-ecological resilience of coastal areas. In order to understand and analyse the multiplicity of strategies applied by small-scale fishers – including expansion towards non–productivist activities – this paper examines the role of new institutional arrangements based on small-scale, traditional, quality-orientated, multifunctional business strategies, as well as non-fishing activities. Using a case study approach, we analyse – in three different European fishery contexts (Greece, Italy, and the UK respectively) – how the interplay between building adaptive arrangements and the creation of social capital in selected small-scale fisheries provides relevant prerequisites for resilience.