ResidenTs oj Hawassa ciTy and The surrounding rural comll1UniTies have close inTero u ion with rnLake Hawassa. The interaction Tak es different Jorms and involves di l'e rse inte resTs-fi velillOod rninterest being the most important one. This study mainly f ocused on IIndersTandin g th e local rnpeople 's livelihood-based interaction with Lake Hawassa through fishing praCTi ces. The study rnJurther aimed at exploring the socio-economic and legal (policy) f aclOrs that have been rnaffecting, positively or negatively, the fishers-lake interaction. Daw has been collected Through rnqualiTaTi ve (obse rvation, in-depth interviews, FCDs and case studies) metlwd and suppOrT ed rnlViTh some qllanTiTaTi ve (questionnaire survey) meThod. DaTa analysis in volved descripTion, rninTerpreTaTion and thernatically-based explanations. Th e study result revea ls thaT Lake j-Iawass(I rnprovides di verse services 10 The populafion inhabiting its catchmenTS: scenic selling Jar TOurism rnand associated di ve rse businesses, and wafer for irrigation and ciTy heaulijicaTion, all rnconT ributing for people's livelihood in one way or anoTher. In the two major/ish landing siT es, rnAmora Cedel and Fiker Hayik, which are the f ocus of The present STudy, f ishing and relaTed rnac fi vities constitute either major livelihood strategy or supplementary means oj income Jor 1000-rn1500 people. Main actors in these activities include: indi vidual fish ers, fi'shers organized into rncooperatives and suppliers of fish products for market at Lake j-Jawassa. In this regard, social rnnetwork play a key role serving as a means of value/supply chain, employment and cluster-based rnfishing practices. Fishing activities at Lake Hawassa seem increasing fi'om time to time. For rninstance, while the maximum carrying capacity of the lake's fishing is said TO be 750neTs/day, rncurrently there are 1200-1400 nets/day operating on the Lake. The number oj people involved in rnfishing af th e Twa mqjor landing sites also increased three times from around 300 in Th e past Ji ve rnyears to around 900 Currently daily income offlshers ranges between 250 and 500 ETB, Ivhich rncorrespond to the production oj 32 and 50 Kgs oJfish respecti vely. However, iT has been f()({nd rnout that in addition to technical and material capacity, volume oJfish produ ction, marketillg and rnits contribution to the livelihood or income, differ between Jasting and non-fa STing periods, rnweather conditions' Javorability or not for fish breeding, whether it is tourism peak seasoll or a rnlean season. Accordingly, production, marketing and income Fom Jishing increase ill the Jormer rnscenarios while decreasing in the latter ones. Fishers try to maxirnize their li velihood inTeresT or rnfish production and income from it by using oJficially prohibited type oj gill nets, reducing the rnmesh size and fishin g more than once per day. These informal ways of trying to increase fishin.g rnwith the aim of improving the livelihood goal obviously put pressure on Th e fish resources at the rnLake. In addition, competing claims between members oj diffe ren.t coopera Ti ves over access TO rnjlsh ing grounds by selling imaginary or informal boundaries are causin g (o r serving as rnjllstification) f or net thefts and leading to open conflict. Therefore, local communities ' increasing rnsocioeconomic interests in fish resources, their struggle TO maintain access to the lake to susTain rntheir livelihood on one hand, and inadequate management practices or rules by institutions in rncharge of natural resources management on the other, are exposin.g the lake's fish ery and other rnresources to pressure, thereby creating conditions that could serve as threat of sustainability to rnthe lake resource an.d people's relation as well as livelihood in. the long run.