During the last decade, there has been a shift in the governance and management of fisheries to a broaderapproach that recognizes the participation of fishers, local stewardship, and shared decision-making.

Through this process, fishers are empowered to become active members of the management team,balancing rights and responsibilities, and working in partnership with government. This approach is called co-management.

This handbook describes the process of community-based co-management from its beginning, throughimplementation, to turnover to the community.

It provides ideas, methods, techniques, activities, checklists,examples, questions and indicators for the planning and implementing of a process of community-basedco-management. It focuses on small-scale fisheries (freshwater, floodplain, estuarine, or marine) indeveloping countries, but is also relevant to small-scale fisheries in developed countries and to themanagement of other coastal resources (such as coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass, and wetlands).

This handbook will be of significant interest to resource managers, practitioners, academics and students of small-scale fisheries.

CONTENTS:

• Why This Handbook?
• What is Community-based Co-management?
• What is a Process for Community-based Co-management?
• Who Are You and What is Your Role in Community-based Co-management?
• Beginnings" or Pre-implementation
• Community Entry and Integration
• Research and Participatory Research
• Environmental Education, Capacity Development and Social Communication
• Community Organizing
• Co-management Plan and Agreement
• Conflict Management
• Co-management Plan Implementation
• Turnover" or Post-implementation
• Making it Happen!