The purpose of these series of Policy Briefs is to ensure effective dissemination of information collected and generated as a result of the World Bank-funded Study of Good Management Practice in Sustainable Fisheries, the ACP Fish II Feasibility Study (EC), and a Workshop on Fiscal Reform in Fisheries (DFID and GTZ). Policy Brief 12, addresses the debate regarding fisheries governance and its relationship to fisheries management systems which centres on an understanding of these two key concepts. They are widely used terms but are not easy to properly define and to quantify. These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, indicative of this lack of definition.