One of the main goals in fisheries governance is to promote viability and sustainability in small-scale fishing communities. This is not an easy task given external and internal pressure, including environmental change and competition with other economic sectors searching for development in the coastal region. A comprehensive understanding of small-scale fisheries in their own context, and from a regional perspective, is an important step in supporting the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines). This book contributes to the global effort by offering knowledge, insights and lessons about small-scale fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 20 case studies included in the book make explicit the various dimensions that are intrinsic to small-scale fisheries in the region, and identify conditions and situations that affect the wellbeing of fishing communities. The book offers insights regarding the challenges faced by small-scale fisheries in the region, and, aligning with the objectives of the SSF Guidelines, provides lessons and experiences about how to make small-scale fishing communities viable while maintaining sustainable fisheries.

Part 1. Introduction.- Chapter 1. Big Questions About Sustainability and Viability in Small-Scale Fisheries.- Chapter 2. Overview of Small-Scale Fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Challenges and Prospects.- Part 2. Issues Challenges and Threats.- Chapter 3. Adaptive Capacity to Coastal Disasters: Challenges and Lessons from Small-Scale Fishing Communities in Central-Southern Chile.- Chapter 4. Small-Scale Fisheries on the Pacific Coast of Colombia: Historical Context, Current Situation and Future Challenges.- Chapter 5. Cooperation, Competition and Attitude Towards Risk of Small-Scale Fishers as Adaptive Strategies: The Case of Yucatan, Mexico.- Chapter 6. Drivers of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change in Coastal Fishing Communities of Tabasco, Mexico.- Part 3. Monitoring Management and conservation.- Chapter 7. From Fishing Fish to Fishing Data: The Role of Artisanal Fishers in Conservation and Resource Management in Mexico.- Chapter 8. Assessing and Managing Small-Scale Fisheries in Belize.- Chapter 9. Exclusive Fishing Zone for Small-Scale Fisheries in Northern Chocó, Colombia: Pre- and Post-Implementation.- Chapter 10. The Challenge of Managing Amazonian Small-Scale Fisheries in Brazil.- Chapter 11. Moving From Stock Assessment to Fisheries Management in Mexico: The Finfish Fisheries From the Southern Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.- Part 4. Socio-Economic, Markets and Livelihoods.- Chapter 12. Socio-Economic Monitoring for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Lessens from Brazil, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.- Chapter 13. Values Associated With Reef-Related Fishing in the Caribbean: A Comparative Study of St. Kitts and Nevis, Honduras, and Barbados.- Chapter 14. The Contribution of Small-Scale Fisheries to Food Security and Family Income in Chile, Colombia, and Peru.- Chapter 15. Seafood Supply Chain Structure of the Fishing Industry of Yucatan, Mexico.- Chapter 16. Analyzing Fishing Effort Dynamics in a Multispecies Artisanal Fisheryin Costa Rica: Social and Ecological System Linkages.- Chapter 17. The Embrace of Liwa Mairin: Lobster Diving and Sustainable Livelihoods on the Nicaraguan Miskitu Coast.- Part 5. Communities, Stewardship, and Governance.- Chapter 18. Collaborative Coastal Management in Brazil: Advancements, Challenges and Opportunities.- Chapter 19. Where Small-Scale Fisheries Meet Conservation Boundaries: MPA Governance Challenges in Southern Brazil.- Chapter 20. Supporting Enhancement of Stewardship in Small-Scale Fisheries: Perceptions of Governance Among Caribbean Coral Reef Fishers.- Chapter 21. Existing Institutional and Legal Framework and Its Implications for Small-Scale Fisheries Development in Brazil.- Chapter 22. Exploring the Governability of Small-Scale Fisheries in Ecuador and Galapagos Islands Under the "Buen Vivir" Principle.- Part 5. Conclusions.- Chapter 23. Drivers and Prospects for the Sustainability and Viability of Small-Scale Fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean.