Fisheries are under heavy pressure from human activities worldwide. As a result, the livelihoods of millions of people who depend directly on marine natural resources are at risk. For this reason, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are among the tools used in fisheries management. In Brazil, Marine Extractive Reserves (MERs) are an MPA model enabling the direct use of resources. MERs attempt to protect the lifestyle of handicraft fishermen as well as to assure the sustainable use of resources. The Reserves are distributed along the coast and they are part of the Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) of Brazil. This study assesses the management of 20 Brazilian MERs from the perspective of the managers and comprises environmental, economic, social and institutional aspects. Our working hypothesis was that managers considered that MERs performed poorly and that differences existed between the results for MERs and LMEs. In general, the results of the study indicate that the management of MPAs is unsatisfactory, especially in economic terms. The environmental aspect of management obtained the most strongly positive assessment. Among the three LMEs evaluated, the North Platform reserves had the worst assessment results. The East Coast reserves and the South Platform reserves had equivalent results, but these results were still not adequate. Mechanisms need to be implemented to provide alternative income generation for the beneficiaries. Furthermore, most of the areas assessed have no Management Plan. This lack creates difficulties for local management. Because MERs are public areas granted through concessions for the use of beneficiaries and the co-managing body is a federal entity, the Brazilian State needs to provide further institutional support to these areas to fulfil the objectives for which they were created.