Small-scale fisheries make an important contribution to nutrition, food security, sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation of coastal areas. This paper deals with the integration of small-scale fisheries in coastal communities, their contribution to sustainable development, and some methodological approaches that can be used to carry out this kind of analysis. Concepts as supply chain, blue growth, ecosystem services and multifunctionality are discussed and finally integrated in a framework for the analysis of coastal communities, which are assimilated to a specific pattern of industrial clusters. The approach proposed represents a useful and relatively easy to use instrument supporting the involvement of people, enterprises and institutions for the analysis of the local context and the definition of future strategies, in order to create a favourable environment offering income and employment opportunities to marginalized communities.