This presentation summarizes the findings from eight African countries where case studies of co-management arrangements in artisanal fisheries have been undertaken during the period 1996-97. The countries concerned are Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In most of the cases co-management represents a new approach to fisheries management. In some cases, it has only been applied within the last 3-5 years and in a few it is merely being considered as an option. The comparison of cases at this early stage gives an indication as to what
appear to be the critical issues in the planning and implementation of fisheries co-management arrangements in the African context. The incentives of fishers and other stakeholders to cooperate among themselves and with government in the management of those fisheries in which they are involved are of two types. On the one hand the level of cooperation is determined by a number of key factors relating to the local politico-historical, biophysical, economic and socio-cultural environment of the fishing communities and the fisheries. On the other, the incentives for cooperation are determined by the character of the decision-making arrangements in place for setting collective choice rules and, in particular, the operational rules for the fishery and thus the legitimacy of the arrangement in the eyes of the fishers. The cases studied differ significantly as regards the political history of the countries and the character
of their artisanal fisheries.