A re-visit study was conducted with an aim of assessing characteristics of the Lake Chiuta Fisheries Co-management arrangement. For local level institutions called Beach Village Committees (BVCs), social status, material benefits and the ability to keep nkacha fishers out of Lake Chiuta were major incentives for their partnership with the government. Government considers the partnership as being essential for ensuring sustainable utilisation of the resource and in this sense has increasingly taken advantage of the organised BVC structure to channel its management messages.