The focus of this book is on social and cultural factors in small-scale fisheries development. An important concept underlying many investigations n fisheries social science is the concept of cultural adaptation which refers to both the process and the results of the process of a people’s cultural adaptation to their total environment. There is also the assumption that culture is made up of a number of components which in conjunction with the physical and social environments, make up a human cultural-ecological system. By understanding the process and results of the process of cultural adaptation in specific populations, social-scientists are better able to make recommendations regarding plans to change cultural systems. Because plans for development, management and change if implemented can have both desired and undesired consequences n existing cultural systems, prior knowledge of how a particular target population functions is most useful.