The Rapid Appraisal of Fisheries Management Systems (RAFMS) is a semistructured research tool designed to quickly document and evaluate the existing local-level fisheries management systems in a given fishing community. Thesefisheries management systems may be formal, informal/traditional or combinations. RAFMS has three components: the variables or attributes to be examined, the research or survey steps, and the expected output. The handbook is divided into six parts: 1) introduction to rapid appraisal; 2) research/survey framework; 3) procedures and methodologies; 4) afterword; 5) references; and 6) an appendix of six matrices.