Co-management as a form of resource management is gaining ground worldwide, so also in fisheries management. Co-management implies that the user-groups participate in the decision-making on how to protect and exploit the resources, and to some extent also in the monitoring, surveillance and control of the fisheries. Co-management is increasingly seen as an alternative to centralized fisheries management, because ideally, it integrates the experiences gained by user-groups with scientific advice and policy considerations at central level. Also it integrates biological, social and human aspects of fisheries. The papers in this volume document cases of co-management in Africa.' The papers were presented at the Second Regional Workshop in Africa on fisheries co-management research, which took place in March 1997 in Mangochi, Malawi.