Despite the fact that tremendous effort and many resources have been invested in improving the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the crisis in the EU fisheries management systems worsens year by year. This crisis has prevailed almost since the CFP was first implemented in 1983. The analytical framework applied in this book is based on four perspectives - political, ideational, institutional/organizational, and socio-economical - used in the following manner: the analyses of the political decision-making processes provide an understanding of the complicated and complex political processes * the analyses of ideational perspectives focus on "new modes of governance" arising from general reforms in EU governance and public administration * the institutional/organizational analyses focus on the fisheries management system as an institution, explaining the complex, multifaceted, and often contradictory objectives that the fisheries management system operates within and interacts with * the socio-economic analyses link the fisheries management system to fishing practices and the fishing communities by identifying the main factors that determine fishing behavior. The purpose is to examine how well the management schemes fit the practical reality within the social systems and the individual fishermen that are managed.