This state-of-the-art on fisheries co-management was produced using a specific approach combining an in-depth analysis of the literature, and the leveraging of co-management experiences in different countries. The first part is devoted to the definition and classification of co-management on its various scales, then to the development and adaptation of co-management. Part two deals with drivers of co-management, the costs and benefits, tools for assessing co-management potential, key success factors and major hurdles, the principal conditionalities governing co-management as part of the management of fisheries decision-making cycles and processes, sharing of functions, design and development, implementation, technical measures, transboundary and transnational co-management, integration of co-managed fisheries and Marine Protected Areas, co-management applied to artificial reefs and fish-aggregating devices). The third and final part draws lessons from the dozen or so international experiences that have been subject to in- depth analysis. This document will serve as a foundation for a regional symposium on fisheries co-management organised by the SRFC (West African Sub-Regional Fishery Commission), to enable a comparison of perspectives, enhance the discussions of the institutions and concerned stakeholders, determine the major challenges for the States in terms of co-management and the sustainable management of the region's fishing resources. One of the specific challenges will be to leverage this work to enhance coordination between local, national and regional governance.