[en] In the coastal areas of southern Benin, small-scale fishing is the main activity of growing population generations. Since French colonization arrived, fisheries management changed from indigenous rules to French regulations and now to Beninese rules according to the democratic era. Using the sustainable livelihood approach, this study aims to check how fisheries management has contributed to designing the status of small-scale fishers¿ livelihoods in estuarine and lagoon areas of southern Benin. A random sample of 205 fishers was interviewed through a structured questionnaire, and the collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and hierarchical ascending classification. The results revealed three types of fishers with different kinds of livelihood assets. The intensive sedentary fishers are located around the Lake Nokoué and Porto-Novo Lagoon Complex and have consistent financial, physical, and natural livelihoods. They don¿t respect fishing rules by using high harvest, ecologically damageable and prohibited gears such as Mêdokpokonou and Acadja. Secondly, the sedentary semi-intensive fishers are primarily located in the Lake Ahémé Coastal-lagoon complex. They used authorized gears such as sparrowhawk nets and trap nets but low levels of Acadja and Mêdokpokonou. Thirdly, the extensive subsistence fishers were primarily located around Lake Ahémé Coastal-lagoon complex. They have common livelihood assets and respect rules edited by public governance offices. Weak governance that did not involve local authorities and fishers¿ organizations contributed to leading fishers to defraud and use prohibited gear, allowing the best defrauders to have the highest livelihoods while the compliant fishers are poorer. Sustainable governance rules must include fishers¿ livelihood satisfaction and, therefore, must fishers¿ implication in-laws¿ design.
