In Paraty (Brazil), where small-scale fisheries and protected areas management are intertwined, government agencies have shown an intention to transition towards participatory management schemes. Regardless of fishers' great interest in participation, the low number of fishers attending meetings is a recurrent theme. The objective of this paper is to contribute to understanding why small-scale fishers do not participate in meetings with the government (or rarely do). The research was based on a case study in two adjacent communities in Paraty: Praia Grande and Ilha do Araújo. Data came from three main sources: interviews with fishers; participant observation during a Consultative Council meeting of the Tamoios Ecological Station (a no-take protected area) in which a participatory process was initiated; and interviews with officers of the protected area. Fishers' reasons for why they do not participate in meetings with the government, or why there is low fisher participation in such meetings, were numerous and divide into three themes: (1) hierarchical governance (legislation and fishers-government relationship); (2) fisher-related barriers (fishers' feelings/emotions or perceptions towards meetings, incompatibility between fishers' way of life and meetings, and representativeness); and (3) process deficiency (previous to the meeting, during the meeting, and meetings' outcomes). Our research sheds light on the non-participants' viewpoints about government meetings, contributing to filling a research gap in the participation literature, while also contributing to knowledge about barriers to the emergence of co-management (e.g. conflictual relationships between the two parties, and the nature of the meetings). Based on fishers' opinions about meetings they would definitely participate in, the analysis of fishers' reasons for not participating as well as the managers' perspectives, and the evaluation of the meeting (using Rowe and Frewer's framework), we propose guidelines for developing participatory processes in fisheries management: (i) the convening of the meetings should be appropriate; (ii) the facilitation of the whole participatory process must be unbiased; (iii) the transparency of the process should be ensured both internally and externally; and (iv) the objectives, procedures and intended outcomes must be clearly defined. 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