There are growing calls from some scientists and non-governmental/governmental organisations for no take marine protected areas (NTMPAs). These calls are a response to concerns about the ‘health’ of marine fish stocks and ecosystems. At a UK level, Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a relatively recent aspect of conservation policies. The proposals for the forthcoming Marine Bill include provisions for designating NTMPAs and whilst many organisations are lobbying for such provisions, the prospects are currently uncertain. Against this background, some fishermen and their representatives are increasingly concerned that NTMPAs will be imposed on them, threatening their economic sustainability and their ‘way of life’. Fishermen in the UK, as in most of the world, have enjoyed the rights to fish the total sea area, with the exception of safety/security exclusion zones, provided stocks are present and it is technically and economically feasible to exploit them. Conservation measures are imposed, such as quotas on certain species, partial/seasonal closures and various technical restrictions. However, all these measures are aimed at fish stock conservation objectives and other than these, the basic presumption has been that all areas can be fished, under the principle of ‘the freedom of the seas’. This presumption is now being undermined by increasing calls for NTMPAs, in which all fishing is banned, primarily in order to achieve marine biodiversity conservation objectives. These proposals raise many issues from the fishing industry’s perspective as they represent a fundamental challenge, through the introduction of marine biodiversity conservation objectives, to access rights decision-making processes. In order to gain a rich understanding of fishing industry and related views, these issues are explored in this report, based on a completely independent research project involving a programme of 51 semistructured interviews over May-October 2005 with 57 fishing industry representatives in south-west England (West Dorset, Devon & Cornwall). Whilst debates on NTMPAs are raging in policy and scientific circles, the views of the fishing industry are often neglected. This report is intended to provide a richer understanding of the different perspectives amongst the fishing industry on the issues raised by NTMPA proposals in SW England. It is hoped that this will help provide for a better understanding of fishermen’s views in such debates and help promote their fuller participation in such debates. The findings of these interviews in relation to specific issues can be summarised as follows but the main report includes many more quotes that illustrate the findings. Please note that the reported percentages often refer to the total number of interviewees that discussed a given issue, rather than the total number of all interviewees. The figures in brackets after the percentages indicate how many interviewees stated this perspective.