Mediterranean Rift: Socio-Ecological Transformations in the Sicilian Bluefin Tuna Fishery

Abstract

This article examines the social and ecological transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery during the modern era. The analysis utilizes a sociological framework that draws on theory from environmental sociology, specifically metabolic rift theory. Escalating pressure on the fishery has contributed to a host of environmental and social problems, including pushing this important fishery to the brink of collapse. Using a combination of primary and secondary source data, this research employs sociological methods and analyzes recent changes in the socio-ecological metabolism of the fishery. The study explores the unsustainable nature of capitalist food production by examining the ‘rift’ in the society and nature metabolism that has emerged in the modern Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery. It advances the discussion on the ways in which the social relations of modern capitalist production have transformed the socio-ecological metabolism in agri-food production.

Keywords

aquaculture environmental sociology fisheries globalization metabolic rift political economy

Introduction

This study examines the eco-social transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery over its long history. The Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT) has been an important economic and cultural product in this region for over a thousand years. Throughout the Mediterranean, ABFT were captured using traditional traps at least since antiquity. In Sicily, the traditional trap fishery, called la tonnara, has historically been one of the most important and fertile of all the trap fisheries in the region (Lentini, 1986; Sarà, 1998).

Within the last half-century, there has been an escalating and intensified effort to capture, and recently ‘ranch’, ABFT in the Mediterranean to supply a global commodity in increasing demand. At the same time, ABFT stocks have been depleted to levels that threaten the future viability of the fishery (ICCAT, 2007). Today, the eastern stock of ABFT, mostly located in the Mediterranean, is a principal source of bluefin tuna for the global market.

ABFT have been severely overfished throughout their habitat. Fisheries scientists estimate that, due to increased fishing pressures, mortality rates for the eastern stocks are three times the level that would allow for the sustainability of the stock (ICCAT, 2007). Decreases in stock biomass have directly correlated with increased activity from large-scale commercial fishing operations within this region, and the booming demand and price for bluefin tuna on the global market (Fromentin and Powers, 2005; Mather et al., 1995).¹ These events are having a significant impact on Mediterranean ecosystems and fishing communities in the region.

In his seminal work, The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills (1959) advocated the value of historical analysis and contended that ‘we must ask: What are the salient trends? To answer that question we must make a statement of at least “from what” and “to what”’ (1959: 151). By addressing some fundamental concerns pertaining to the collapse of the traditional Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery and the expansion of modern bluefin tuna production, this analysis explores the global socio-structural processes that have become central aspects of the modern agri-food system. While there have been many important contributions to the sociological literature from research that examine fisheries and aquaculture (e.g. Bailey, 1985; Bailey et al., 1996; Constance et al., 1995; Hormel and Norgaard, 2009; Vandergeest et al., 1999), this work employs a theoretical framework that has been underutilized in this area of research. Drawing from environmental sociology, specifically metabolic rift theory, this study contributes to previous research by providing an original analysis of the social and ecological transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery that have transpired during the modern era.

Methods and Data

Data were collected through in-depth interviews, site visits, observations, examination of primary historical documents, as well as other secondary texts and available data on the Sicilian fishery accessible in the field. The sampling method for the interviews in this study was a combination of purposive sampling, selecting the subjects based on previous knowledge, and snowball sampling, in which subjects suggested additional individuals for interviewing (Babbie, 2005). A total of 41 in-depth interviews were conducted in communities that have been historically associated with the fishery throughout Northwestern Sicily.²

The interviews were semi-structured following a design that allowed the subjects to elicit their experiences over their life course as it pertained to the history and changing nature of the industry, environmental conditions and future prospects. The descriptions, narratives and detailed accounts provided discursive data that identified important social and historical events, and discussed pertinent social and ecological concerns. The interviews provided knowledge and information regarding the social history of the fishery and technical knowledge of the workings of the traditional, as well as modern, fishery.

Table 1.

Number of interviews and affiliated categories or sectors

Category	Number interviewed	Follow-up interviews
Tonnara	10	4
Tuna Ranches	8	3
Scientists and Academics	6	2
Community Members and Others	8	1
Total	32	10
Total Interviews Conducted	41*

Total number interviewed does not equal sum of category columns as one participant was affiliated with two categories

Figure 1.

Map of southern Italy and Sicily with insert of northwest Sicily

Primary and secondary source documents were accessed through the personal libraries/archives of participants, and Sicilian community or regional libraries. Descriptive quantitative data was gathered through organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).

Northwest Sicily was the focus of this study for a number of reasons. First, this part of Sicily was one of the most important regions in the development of the traditional tonnara fishery in the Mediterranean (Consolo, 1986; La Mantia, 1901; Villabianca, 1986 [1764]). Second, this region of Sicily contained the last active tonnara, on the island of Favignana. Third, in 2001 an active ‘tuna ranch’ was established in the Golfo di Castellammare.³

Theoretical Framework: Environmental Sociology, Social Metabolism and the Metabolic Rift

The modern global agri-food system has transformed the way human societies produce and consume food and fiber (Goodman and Redclift, 1991; McMichael, 1995; Mazoyer and Boudart, 2006). Food systems that were once regionally based are now part of a global structure that produces agri-food products in a manner unparalleled in human history. Led by vertically and horizontally integrated trans-national corporations, this system of production has raised considerable ecological and social concerns (Jorgenson and Kyukendall, 2008; McMichael, 2000).

In order to analyze the dynamics of the agri-food system, its environmental impacts and social consequences, this research makes use of the theoretical lens provided by environmental sociology. While the larger research project has been informed by the many influential approaches developed in this area of study, such as the treadmill of production theory (Schnaiberg, 1980), the second contradiction theory (O’Connor, 1991) and world-systems theory (Roberts and Grimes, 2002; Wallerstein, 1974), this analysis will focus on the metabolic rift theory (Foster, 1999). By examining the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery, this work contributes new insight into the modern global agri-food system, providing a powerful case of circumstances that are common throughout the world’s fisheries.

The Metabolic Rift

The concept of metabolism was developed in the biological and ecological sciences to describe the processes that allow material exchanges to take place between an organism and its environment, or a cell and its surroundings (Fischer-Kowalski, 1997). Studying the soil science of chemist Justus von Liebig (1803–73), Marx initiated a well developed understanding of socio-ecological metabolic relations (Foster, 2000). In the mid-19th century, the problems related to soil fertility were a serious concern for agricultural production. Liebig’s work regarding the processes of plant nutrition and soil detailed the social and natural processes that impacted soil fertility. Based on Liebig’s work that examined the regulatory metabolic process of the soil, Marx initiated a critique of capitalist agriculture (Foster and Magdoff, 2000).

Marx and Engels applied the concept of metabolism to describe a society’s interaction with its environment in much the same way biologists use it to understand the workings of a cell or an organism (Fischer-Kowalski, 1997; Foster, 1999). Societies, as human systems, acquire material resources from their environment and return waste or consumed material back to the environment in order to maintain and reproduce themselves. The mechanisms that regulate these interactions are, of course, different. Nevertheless, the principle is the same. Indeed, Marx and Engels did not employ this concept as a simple metaphor for the interrelationship between society and natural systems, but as a conceptual depiction of the socio-ecological exchanges that are essential for the maintenance and reproduction of a society (Clark, 2007). The concept of metabolism allows for a holistic, or better dialectical and materialist, understanding of society-nature relations. In addition, it provides essential insight into the social processes that are creating a ‘rift’ in the conditions of social and ecological reproduction (Foster, 1999).

Briefly stated, Marx (1977 [1867]) argued that, chiefly due to the separation between town and country that characterizes capitalist production, the soil and its constituent nutrients were negatively impacted. With the growth of industrial factory production in the cities, food and fiber produced in the country were shipped to urban centers to supply the growing pool of laborers. As a result, the soil nutrients contained within the agricultural products are shipped far away from their point of origin. These nutrients do not return to the soil to complete the metabolic process, where the circulation of matter allows for the restoration of the soil.

Marx understood that human beings interact with nature through the labor process. In the society-nature metabolism, labor is the ‘process by which man, through his own action, mediates, regulates, and controls the metabolism between himself and nature’ (Marx, 1977 [1867]: 283). Via the labor process, humans act on their natural surroundings, extract energy and materials and deposit waste. It is their means of reproduction. Marx made clear that the labor process is:

an appropriation of what exists in nature for the requirements of man. It is the universal condition for the metabolic interaction [Stoffwechsel] between man and nature and the everlasting nature imposed condition of human existence … and it is common to all forms of society in which human beings live. (Marx, 1977 [1867]: 290)

The notion that the labor process mediates the metabolic relationship between human societies and their surroundings is a key component of this theoretical approach. Humans develop tools, i.e. technologies, to act upon their environment and procure physical needs. Social institutions provide the context for which humans interact with the natural world in various ways. Human societies change their environment, both natural and social, and these transformations create a number of different opportunities and consequences.

Employing the concept of metabolism permits a socio-ecological and coevolutionary analytical perspective. This approach acknowledges that humans are both natural and social beings, and are thus regulated by natural laws as well as social forces. Physical processes and interactions are governed through social institutions, methods of production, technological capacity and the division of labor, among other social factors (Foster, 2000). That is to say, this approach emphasizes that while humans interact with nature, they do so in a historical and social context. Just as humans make history, ‘but they do not make it just as they please,’ humans interact with nature, yet not as they please, ‘but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past’ (cited in Tucker, 1978: 595).

The metabolic rift will be utilized in this study in order to examine the Sicilian ABFT fishery. It provides a novel application of a powerful theoretical approach that is gaining prominence in environmental sociology (Clausen and Clark, 2005; Foster, 1999; Mancus, 2007; Moore, 2000; Yorket al., 2003). In doing so, this analysis explores the unsustainable nature of capitalist food production, by examining the ‘rift’ in the society and nature metabolism that has emerged in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery.

Eco-Social Context: Global Marine Fisheries in Crisis

To understand the conditions within the modern Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery, it is important to place these developments within their historical and ecological context. Societies throughout history have impacted their marine environments, some to a greater degree than others (Jackson et al., 2001). However, the current circumstances in global fisheries have developed into a crisis that is global in its scope, rapid in pace, and colossal in its scale (Clausen and Clark, 2005). This unprecedented human impact on marine ecosystems requires some discussion.

Industrialized fishing efforts for marine species first emerge in the 19th century. However, in the post-World War II era, global marine fish catches saw a marked increase. In the later half of the 20th century there was an enormous increase in the capital, energy, and capacity put into fishing efforts (Jackson et al., 2001; Jacquet, 2009; Pauly, 2004). As a result, global captures increased more than five-fold between 1950 and 2000 (UN FAO, 2007; WWF, 2008). In fact, in the 1950s and 1960s, the global fishing effort increased at a rate faster than the rate of population growth in the same period (Pauly et al., 2002). This effort was led by capital intensive gear including large-scale purse-seines, long-liners, and factory trawlers as well as new developments in fish location technology.

Although fishing efforts have been steadily increasing in the recent past, cumulative yields of all species in large marine ecosystems have declined by 13 percent since 1994 (Worm et al., 2006). Indeed, social scientists have identified a relationship between social factors, such as economic growth, and an increase in threatened fish species (Clausen and York, 2008). Recent trends in captures of global marine fisheries resources, once thought to be infinite, clearly indicate the onset of a crisis (Jacquet, 2009). A number of marine species throughout the world have been distressed primarily due to anthropogenic drivers such as over-exploitation of stocks and habitat loss due to environmental degradation (Halpern et al., 2008). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at least 1200 fish species are considered threatened (IUCN, 2007). In a recent study, Worm et al. (2006) predicted that if trends of increasing pressure and loss of biodiversity in marine ecosystems continue unchanged, the collapse of all taxa that are currently fished could occur by the middle of the 21st century. Moreover, it is estimated that all large predatory fish have seen a 90 percent decline in spawning stock biomass since pre-industrial levels (Myers and Worm, 2003). Atlantic bluefin tuna, a large marine predator with a high market value, have not been spared in this onslaught on the oceans.

Social Metabolism and the Coevolution of a Sustainable Fishery

The traditional Sicilian tuna trap fishery, la tonnara, evolved into its modern complex form based on simple fishing methods developed in early antiquity. While up until the middle of the 20th century there were about 21 tonnare throughout Sicily (and during some periods many more), by 1973 there were just seven (Mather et al., 1995). Today there are none, as the last remaining tonnara in Favignana, active for centuries, has shut down.

Through a historical analysis of the Sicilian tonnara, the long process of society and nature coevolution is revealed. It is likely that the earliest bluefin tuna fishing entailed casting nets from the shore with or without the use of small vessels (Sarà, 1998). This method developed into the system of fishing called sciabica, in which nets were cast in a more systematic fashion from the shoreline for trapping and herding bluefin (Consolo, 1986).

As early societies gained knowledge of the bluefin’s natural characteristics and biology, particularly the timing of its reproductive period and its behavior during this period, they created simple trapping systems (Consolo, 1986; Sarà, 1998). Adaptations to trapping systems continued until the tonnara was established, likely between the 9th and 11th centuries C.E. (La Mantia, 1901). The tonnara is an elaborate fixed trap fishing system in the open sea that takes advantage of the bluefin tuna’s reproductive biology, which brings the large pelagic species close to the shore during spawning.

Clearly, the tonnara emerged in close association with the bluefin’s biology. Benefiting from the material conditions, i.e. the local ocean environment that offered the optimal setting for bluefin reproduction, societies had annual access to abundant bluefin tuna (D’Amico, 1816). This species provided significant nutritional resources for local communities, and at times allowed for a surplus to be traded with other communities and nearby regions (Aviolo, 1805; Lentini, 1986). While the socio-ecological metabolism of the island surely extends beyond this fishery, the tonnara provides a good example of a coupled human and natural system, where social practices evolve among biological processes (Liu et al., 2007).

For clarification purposes, a brief description of the tonnara system of trapping is appropriate. This large rectangular trapping apparatus, that can easily span over a kilometer, captures migrating bluefin tuna and corrals them into a system of nets that are divided into multiple camere (chambers). The bluefin remain in the chambers until they are escorted through the trap by the tonnaroto (tuna fisher) into the camera della morte (the chamber of death). Once in the final chamber, the bluefin is harvested in the famous practice called la mattanza (the killing) (Pavesi, 1889).

The entire process evolved within the bluefin’s reproductive ecology, such that it minimally distressed the bluefin until its dramatic conclusion. While it is impossible to know the bluefin’s specific biological response, many who had first-hand experience commented on the bluefin’s ‘contentment’ once in the tonnara. As Giuseppe, a veteran tonnaroto in Sicily and Libya for more than 50 years, explained:

Tuna can stay in the chambers for almost a month. They are constantly moving in a circular path. Once they get established, they continue to turn. They are not bothered; they are in love … Often, even when you want them to, they do not want to move out of the chamber, they continue moving in circles.

The bluefin adapted easily to the environment in the trap. Describing the bluefin as ‘in love’ may sound patently anthropomorphic. However, we should consider that the bluefin tuna is highly sensitive to the environmental conditions during reproduction. While scientific knowledge on the complexity of bluefin reproduction is still incomplete, bluefin are known to be affected by water quality, salinity and temperature, as well as a variety of other external factors, such as crowded conditions, excessive noise, pollution or other stress provoking circumstances (Fromentin and Powers, 2005; Sarà, 1998; Schaeffer, 2001).

According to the tonnaroti,⁴ the bluefin does not appear to be stressed when trapped in the tonnara. Indeed, the structure is designed in such a way, and is large enough, that bluefin tuna continue their reproductive behavior inside the trap. Ninni Ravazza worked in the tonnara in Bonagia from 1984 until its closure in 2003 and described the conditions. He had a first-hand view of bluefin behavior on a regular basis and explains that in the tonnara bluefin tuna reproduce:

until the final moment, until they are harpooned by tonnaroti. The tuna are not under stress. During the period of May through June they are fully in their period of sexual reproduction [in the tonnara]. They are tranquillissimi (very calm). There is not even an attempt to escape. During this period [it] is a serene tuna, a tuna that tranquilly continues to reproduce.

Further, in his memoirs on the years he spent working in the tonnara, Ravazza (2005) states:

I have seen tunas make love, and I was touched to tears by this miracle of nature. I have seen them surriare (rub along their underbellies) and then return to their circular path. (2005: 151, translated from the original Italian)

That the bluefin tuna continues to reproduce inside the traditional trap ‘until they are harpooned by the tonnaroti’ is no small matter and requires some discussion. This biological fact is undoubtedly a key feature that contributed to the sustainability of the tonnara for centuries. Large tuna of reproductive age entered the trap and proceeded to engage in the instinctual reproductive activity that had drawn them to the location.

The trap’s size was one crucial aspect that created favorable conditions for reproduction. Tuna are ram ventilators. That is, they must swim constantly in order to extract oxygen from their surroundings. The traps allowed them to move freely and maintain the constant motion necessary for life. Surely, it was clear to early fishers that bluefin tuna will suffocate quickly if their movement is limited, and that they will respond negatively to crowded conditions.

Over time, tonnaroti developed knowledge that informed their fishing practices. Bluefin can remain in the tonnara’s chambers quite comfortably for many days or weeks at a time. In addition, fishers recognized that massive bluefin tuna could be corralled and coerced to move from chamber to chamber. More than one tonnaroto communicated that the tuna were usually ‘tranquil, like sheep’ inside the traps. In fact, Giuseppe, a young tonnaroto from Bonagia, noted:

A shepherd leaves his sheep in a corral at night and returns the next morning to find them there comfortably waiting. The tonnara is the same.

Thus, the trap does not significantly disrupt bluefin tuna reproductive behavior, and as a result, worked closely within the bluefin’s ecological metabolism. This research suggests that the trap, adapted over long periods of intimate interaction with the bluefin tuna, was designed in a manner that functioned in accordance with its reproductive biology. Ecologically speaking, this is a vital part of creating a sustainable fishery.⁵ While early adaptations to the trap were not likely to have been interpreted as ecologically sustainable in the modern definition of the term by earlier fishers, or even intentionally executed, these adaptations had the desired results for communities closely tied to the species. That is, these practices produced a reliable source of annual protein in a manner that was consistent with local resources, local needs, and social organization (Pavesi, 1889). Similar to the Native communities in California’s salmon fishery described by McEvoy (1986) in his famous work, The Fisherman’s Problem, tonnaroti built and managed the bluefin tuna fishery with great success over many centuries. With this in mind, it is necessary to examine a central component of the socio-ecological metabolism in the tonnara, the labor process.

Tonnara and Tonnaroto: The Labor Process and Relations to Natural Systems

Tonnaroti developed an intimate knowledge of their local environment. Working in the fishery, tonnaroti, from the earliest of times, learned the habits and behaviors of the bluefin tuna and adapted their methods of capture and placement accordingly. These fishers gained acute awareness of the ocean conditions and the ecology of their location in order to make decisions for the proper functioning of the tonnara, and developed skills only possible through direct observation, experience, and knowledge. Tonnaroti built on the years of experience interacting with the fishery through their labor, and cultivated knowledge that became an integral part of the functioning of the tonnara. This was demonstrated in a variety of examples in daily activities.

One such notable example is the way in which tonnaroti monitored the bluefin that entered the trap. This was done using simple tools and great skill. Expert fishers kept tabs on bluefin tuna using weighted lines dropped into the trap. While counts were clearly approximations, they were very good conservative estimates. As Antonio, the descendant of three generations of Rais (directors of the tonnara), noted:

When I was a boy, I used to stay on site with my father and observe the tonnaroti … If they [the tonnaroti] said there were ventina (about 20) there were probably at least 25 or 30. If they said there were trentina (about 30), you could count on 40 or so.

This method along with others was used in order for the tonnaroti to determine the quantity of bluefin that had entered the trap, whether the trap was consistently fishing, or if a problem had arisen.

Tonnaroti developed a sharp sense of the conditions inside the trap. For example, expert fishers sometimes described the ‘mood’ of captured tuna. That is, they could report whether the tuna were ‘calm and content’ or when something was amiss. Nino, a tonnaroto in the tonnara in Scopello (north-western Sicily) during its final years, recounted the response of the Rais when a shark was found in the tonnara, which highlights the fisher’s finely honed knowledge. He recalled:

The most talented fishers could tell you how many tuna were in the tonnara … The guardiani (lookouts) were so talented that, not only did they know how many tuna there could be, but they understood when the tuna were nervous, and this was a concern for them. It was a concern because … they knew that there could be a shark nearby. A shark in the tonnara could ruin the season.

This is an excellent account of the tonnaroti’s intimate familiarity with the ecological conditions, their profound understanding of the bluefin’s behavior, and the socio-ecological metabolism, in which the labor process was coupled with natural systems. Fishers inherited knowledge and techniques developed over centuries that enabled them to sense the conditions within the trap and resolve problems with relatively good success.

In addition, tonnaroti observed a number of natural indicators that allowed them to better predict the arrival and movement of the tuna into the traps. Specifically, through years of practical experience, tonnaroti identified the winds, sea organisms and birds that were signs of bluefin moving into or towards the trap. As Salvatore, former tonnaroto from Bonagia, explained:

Before reaching the location of the tonnara we may notice sea birds. First the Rais … because first he understands and explains, and then others learn. And then even you yourself learn, and make contributions. We would say: ‘Talia, le cedde di mare ci sunnu!’ [‘Look, the sea birds have arrived!’] … We are fishing!’’

Thus the tonnaroti, as a participant stated, ‘read the signals of nature’. The statement also provides insight into the process of knowledge transfer and the contributions made by many members of the crew as they gained experience. Furthermore, these methods date back many generations. Tonnaroti regarded this as a direct link to their ancestors and even the Ancients.

The labor process in the tonnara was built on years of experience and a deep understanding of the local environment. For example, some locations were known for their strong currents that were a challenge when setting the trap, and others for the constant presence of sharks, which had to be lured away or captured. This was a labor process that was fully engaged with natural ecosystems. Gioacchino, Rais in Favignana from 1997 to 2007, compares the work of the tonnaroto to a farmer saying:

Like a cultivator plants a tree, helps it to grow, and waits for it to bear fruit, the Rais [and tonnaroto] do the same thing with the tonnara. He has to set up the nets in the right way to capture the tuna. And then he waits … It is a very emotional process. When you initiate and prepare, you try and avoid making errors, there are many measures, there are many meters of nets, you need to avoid the destructive currents and set it along with the habits of the tuna.

Their strong ties to this species created a culture of reverence and appreciation for the benefits that bluefin tuna brought to the communities. Old time tonnaroti declared that they had ‘tuna blood in their veins’. Through their labor, Sicilian communities interacted with ocean ecosystems and established a socio-ecological metabolism in this fishery that was sustainable for at least a millennium.

The Emergence of a Rift

In the modern fishery, labor and nature have been transformed significantly. Bluefin tuna originating from the Mediterranean have become, first and foremost, a global commodity mediated by a capital and technology intensive system of production (Safina, 1998). Global market demand and exchange value are principal drivers of capture and production (Bestor, 2001; Issenberg, 2007). The major markets for bluefin tuna are Japan, Europe and the USA. Japan, with its enormous appetite for marine products, far surpasses the imports of all other nations, consuming at least half the global catch and 80 to 90 percent of the Mediterranean captures (Gaski, 1993). Bluefin tuna is regarded as the premier fish for sushi and sashimi, and it fetches among the highest prices of any fish commodity on the global market (Bestor, 2001; Ellis, 2008).

In recent times, high global demand and market prices resulted in a frenzy to capture bluefin wherever they are prolific. Investment in capacity and technology to expand fishing effort increased greatly in Mediterranean fleets beginning in the 1970s as global demand intensified, including larger and faster boats, computer assisted location devices and spotter planes. This has had a dreadful impact on bluefin stocks in the Mediterranean (ICCAT, 2007; Safina, 2001).

In the modern era, long-lines and purse-seines hunt bluefin in the deep sea, and the relations that sever the bluefin’s reproductive journey emerge. Oftentimes, bluefin are captured before they reach their spawning grounds or are captured at pre-spawning age. The preferred methods of modern industrial ABFT capture do not necessarily distinguish between younger or older bluefin (Safina, 1998).

Modern production has created a rift in the socio-ecological metabolism of this fishery. Just as Marx described a rift caused by the decreasing fertility of the soil in his era, as capitalist agriculture was exploiting (robbing) the future productivity of the land, a parallel process is taking place in the oceans. Industrial capitalist fishing creates the conditions that exploit the fishery and rob it of its future viability.

Furthering the Rift: Tuna Ranches

Today, the central goal in the Sicilian ABFT fishery is to expand the global market, increase added value and grow returns on capital investments. The social imperatives of expansion and competition, structured by the institutions of modern capitalism, create an irresistible drive to increase captures and supply a luxury commodity whose market value has grown dramatically (Bestor, 2001). In doing so, new technologies have been developed in order to enhance the opportunities and prospects for those investing in the marine products sector in the Mediterranean. The most recent phenomenon that has taken a hold on this fishery is the initiation and growth of tuna farming or ‘ranching’. This method can increase the added value of ABFT and expand control over the production process.

Industrial capitalist methods to produce fish for global seafood markets have expanded greatly in recent decades. Mirroring the ‘green revolution’ in agriculture, the ‘blue revolution’ is promoted to address the challenges of increasing food production for growing human populations through fish ‘farming’ or aquaculture (Bailey, 1985). This method has been implemented for the production of a variety of high-value marine products including salmon, shrimp and sea bass. However, it is well known that these methods of production have high ecological impacts due to their large-scale intensified methods (Clausen and Clark, 2005; Naylor et al., 1998, 2000; Pauly, 2004).

Industry interests frame the recent efforts in bluefin tuna ranching in Sicily as the modern tonnara claiming:

Today there is a new tonnara … where the ocean is the same … the tuna is the same … and man is the same … but what has changed is the technology! (New Eurofish, 2007)

The implication has been that ranching is the equivalent and even a direct improvement of the traditional trapping system. This notion is very appealing to many in this region, particularly those interested in promoting economic development. The tonnara and its very labor intensive methods are regarded as quaint, but backward. In addition, the changes are given an air of technological and historical inevitability by those in industry. Giuseppe, the technical coordinator of a tuna ranch, explains:

We need to transform to fish farming the way it happened in agriculture. People had to transfer from hunting to agriculture. The choices are either starvation, not having enough resources for the growing population, or transform from hunter to farmer. This has not completely transpired in the ocean, but I believe it is our destiny.

Unlike the traditional tonnara, the recent practices associated with bluefin tuna captures in the Mediterranean are based on technology and capital intensive methods that developed over a relatively short period of time, with the ultimate aim of producing an exchange value to expand capital returns. Driven by the imperatives of capitalist development, these methods focus on maximum output while minimizing labor power, and have a utilitarian conception of the bluefin’s ecology, as well as the broader ecological conditions. The consequences completely transform the socio-ecological metabolism of the fishery.

The modern fishery has focused on mass production and capital accumulation, allowing producers to directly manage and manipulate the ‘quality’ of the product they offer for the market. This is accomplished by developing feeding programs that increase the bluefin’s fat content to levels that will fetch higher prices on the global sushi/sashimi market, thus increasing the added value of the product, while establishing a level of management of the captured species not possible with earlier systems. As a result, ecological cycles become subject to the whims of the capitalist economic cycles (Clark and York, 2008). The metabolic rift that emerged in the industrial fishery is furthered, rather than mended. There are numerous concerns that develop as a result of this activity, including overfishing and a severing of the bluefin’s life cycle, impacts on local ecosystems, energy inefficiency, pressure on global fish stocks, the breakdown of communities and cultural heritage and loss of inherited knowledge that was central to sustainable Sicilian fishing practices.

Overfishing

Bluefin tuna ‘ranching’ has become a standard method of bluefin production in the Mediterranean. This follows decades of large-scale long-line and purse seine fishing that expanded the capacity of the fishery enormously (Doumenge, 1999). Although there have been great investments into developing full-fledged bluefin tuna aquaculture, in which the entire life cycle of the bluefin tuna are controlled and reproduced, this has not yet come to fruition in any practical way (Sawada et al., 2005). As a result, when ranching, wild bluefin are captured and contained for fattening. While other types of industrial aquaculture have had serious environmental impacts, tuna ranching is in a class by itself since the bluefin are not reproduced in captivity.

Proponents of tuna ranching cannot make the claim commonly made by other types of industrial aquaculture, namely that they are reducing impacts on wild stocks. In fact, this method of production is likely worsening the conditions for the Mediterranean ABFT fishery, creating the potential for collapse. ICCAT, the regulatory body in this fishery, states that:

The decline in SSB [spawning stock biomass] appears to be more pronounced during the more recent four or five years … The increase in mortality estimated with the age-structured model for large bluefin is consistent with a shift in targeting towards larger individuals destined for fattening/farming … A collapse in the near future is a possibility. (2007: 66, emphasis added)

Thus, tuna ranches have been implicated as a chief driver in the ABFT declines.

Interruption of Reproductive Cycle

In stark contrast to the socio-ecological metabolism of the tonnara, the process of capturing and rearing bluefin for ranches disrupts the life cycle of the bluefin tuna. It is clear that continued reproduction in the tonnara is a critical factor in its long-term sustainability. In the modern industrial fishery, this reproductive process no longer transpires. The bluefin that are captured and fattened in cages are caught on the high seas during the spawning period. Thus, the reproductive cycle is broken. According to a marine animal specialist and veterinary advisor for a Sicilian tuna ranch, ‘it is not likely that ranched bluefin will have the opportunity to reproduce because they are caught exactly during their reproductive period’. Furthermore, the transport and ranching conditions are generally ‘too stressful’ for bluefin tuna, making it all but impossible for them to reproduce.

Local Environmental Impacts: Benthic Ecosystem

As with all oceanic contained feeding facilities, there are a number of impacts on the local marine ecosystem. The Sicilian coast, like many other areas of coastline in the Mediterranean, is under heavy human pressure from a variety of uses including tourism, fishing, and shipping. This high human pressure results in substantial pollution and makes for vulnerable ecosystems.

Tuna ranches contain a high intensity of biomass enclosed in a small area of sea. These facilities increase the potential environmental disruptions, since feeding operations create areas of condensed populations, and result in accumulation of unconsumed feed and waste (Ottolenghi et al., 2004). Accumulation of organic matter in coastal zones can have detrimental impacts on water quality and, in particular, on organisms that inhabit the seabed (benthic communities). This arrangement also creates the potential for increased spread of diseases (Staniford, 2002; Tudela, 2002).

Energy Demands

Tuna ranching is a very energy intensive process. The capturing and fattening of fish under controlled conditions only intensifies the energy needs related to food production. Bluefin tuna are top predators in the marine food chain. According to the second law of thermodynamics, or the Law of Entropy, all energy transformations result in the degradation of energy sources (Georgesçu-Roegen, 1971). As a result, higher trophic level species, or organisms higher in the food chain, require much more energy to produce calories for human consumption than animal and plant life lower in the food chain.

The food conversion ratio (FCR) of bluefin tuna is likely close to 30:1, plausibly the highest FCR of all species raised in captivity (Aguado-Gimènez and Garcìa-Garcìa, 2005; Tudela, 2002). Thus, 20 or 30 kilograms of feed fish, which include herring, sardines, mackerel, and sometimes squid, must be fed to ranched ABFT in order to increase their body weight by one kilogram. As illuminated by the high FCR, the energy inputs, in terms of calories used as feed, are much higher than the caloric energy available once fattening is complete. Ranching is also a very fossil fuel intensive process, adding to the energy inefficiency.⁶

Threat to Global Fish Stocks

Bluefin ranching increases fishing pressure on other global fish stocks that are used as feed in the ranches. As discussed, feeding bluefin for fattening results in a net loss of energy, as more energy is input than returned. This translates into a net loss of total fish resources.

Large quantities of frozen feed fish are defrosted and distributed to the tuna daily during multiple feedings. Starting slowly so that the wild tuna will become accustomed to consuming dead prey, the ranches attempt to increase the quantity of feed to levels that approach 7 to 10 percent of the tuna’s weight, with an average of 5 to 6 percent per day. Therefore, a ranch with a capacity of 1000 tons consumes an average of 50 to 60 tons of feed fish per day, and ABFT are kept in ranches anywhere from four months to up to two years.

In many parts of the world, humans commonly consume the species that are used as feed in ranches. Hence, this process places direct pressure on food resources. This is particularly problematic for many parts of the global South that rely on these lower trophic level species for sustenance. Additionally, there have been concerns regarding diseases that can be transported by feed fish to local species (Dalton, 2004). Through the transport of feed fish from distant fisheries, there is the possibility of involuntary introduction of pathogens (UN FAO, 2005).

Labor and Nature in the Modern Fishery

Again, examining the labor process provides insight into the socio-ecology of the modern fishery. The transformations driving the metabolic rift are evidenced in the modern labor process. A participant in this study had the unique view of working in both the tonnara and the local tuna ranch. His perspective on the two labor processes is enlightening:

In the tonnara the work is all manual. There are large anchors of 500 kilos that take six people to lift and chains made of iron and nets carried on our shoulders. It is hard work, but in the end we were all satisfied with our work. We went to prepare the nets to fish for tuna. And, practically, we brought our experience as fishers together. What happens now [in the tuna ranch]? The large ships capture the tuna, the tugboats bring them over, and we watch them. You sit and watch the tuna. This was my work as a guard. There is no comparison. The marine culture of fishing is lost … The tonnara brought great satisfaction.

In Sicilian fishing communities, it is clear that labor is transformed from one that allows for the development of some level of satisfaction, a concept repeatedly expressed by former tonnaroti, to one that becomes utilitarian. Braverman’s (1975) discussion of the growing dissatisfaction with the conditions of industrial and office labor contributes insight on this concern. He highlighted that while scientific and technical revolution requires higher levels of education and training, the deskilled character of the work leaves many without any fulfillment and is, as such, ever more exploitative and alienating. Braverman (1975) clarified that this is a direct consequence of a labor process that is dominated and shaped by the imperatives of capital expansion and accumulation.

In practice, tuna ranches create a qualitatively different type of work. The labor process in the ranches is not conducive to the maturation of maritime skill and ecological knowledge that were cultivated and flourished in the tonnara. In the traditional fishery, young tonnaroti learned highly valuable skills in their communities that provided employment in the tonnara and beyond as experienced and capable mariners. Participants that worked in ranches did not define the work in terms of valued or honored skills. Generally, the work was regarded as reasonable in tough economic times. In fact, Salvatore, a scuba diver for a tuna ranch, clarified that he should not be considered a fisher:

The work that we do [as scuba-divers] at sea is not fishing for tuna, the fishing is done by the boats. They have their nets, the purse-seines. What we do is transfer them from their nets to our cages … count and monitor them.

While it was extremely difficult to discuss issues of work conditions with current employees of the ranches due to recent bad press, former employees were more open to discussion. Vincenzo, a former scuba diver for New Eurofish for seven years, gives a detailed account:

When I went there I had no experience around tuna, if they were dangerous or what … At first I was afraid, because there are fish in there that are 400 kilos. But the experience was great because they are not dangerous, and it is fascinating. But then when you go every day, every day, every day it becomes a little heavy, at 50 years old doing this scuba work is heavy … I left because the conditions were not ideal for work … Often, in the morning you go into the cages for 3 or 4 hours and check everything in the water to make sure that the system is in order. But there are other days, for example, when you have to move tuna, because you want to combine the cages and you need to prepare the empty cage to go out again [to go to pick up more tuna]. You need to do all of this in one day because, all the while you are working, the boats are waiting for you. And since there are high costs associated with the waiting tugboats, you are in the water until evening. You start at about eight in the morning and finish around five or six. All day in the water.

He continues, referencing the Spanish transnational that is part of the joint venture:

Physically, I could not do it anymore. It became very stressful on my body. Maybe the Spanish have a different way of working from us … [maybe] they tend to exploit the people more. All the companies are doing it to make this… [participant rubs his fingers together making a signal that represents money] We could have used more workers [to make the job easier]. They look to exploit the people to the maximum, to squeeze them. When they don’t need them anymore… [with his hands, the participant signals tossing them away]

The labor conditions in the tuna ranch are very much like most industrial capitalist processes. Laborers are reduced to numbers that provide the best circumstances to generate profits, often creating conditions that increase exploitation, including negative corporeal impacts on workers (Fracchia, 2008). While those who worked in the tuna ranches were clearly happy to be working, particularly in an economy with high rates of unemployment, and sometimes enjoy the character of the work, there is unmistakable expression of worker exploitation. The importance of reducing costs is evident and prominent to workers in the ranches. It is clear that the process is geared toward extracting surplus value, and workers accept the conditions of employment based on this logic. In addition, the tuna ranches provide either highly technical work, such as scuba divers and technicians, or marine work that has been described as monotonous or simplistic, such as guards.

Conclusion: Implications of the Metabolic Rift in the Sicilian Fishery

While often compelling, it is inadequate to merely lament lost cultures, practices and traditional ways. However, it is necessary to analyze and understand these transformations to modernity and clarify the consequences. The traditional tonnara is more than a mere cultural relic. It can be an important resource for understanding and implementing sustainable fisheries in the modern era.

Due to the imperatives of capitalist development, the modern system of ABFT production and consumption creates conditions that are ecologically and socially unsustainable. This process results in a rift in socio-ecological metabolism in the ABFT fishery. For example, the modern industrial capitalist system of ABFT production drives overfishing, and requires greater energy than is drawn from the caloric energy provided by species. More, the metabolic rift is likely best illustrated by the fact that the modern system of industrial capitalist production severs the bluefin’s reproductive process. As a result, harvesting is taking place in a form that undermines the future of the fishery. In contrast, the tonnara system ingeniously utilized the bluefins’ own energy and reproductive biology that bring them close to shore each spring, and operated sustainably for over a thousand years. Bluefin tuna captured in the tonnara reached their spawning area and have been observed reproducing, creating essential conditions for a sustainable fishery.

The global transport of food and fiber through trade processes is commonplace in the modern agri-food system. However, the dynamics of export oriented capitalist production in this fishery have exacerbated the metabolic rift. Energy sources at one time provided by natural renewable energy systems, namely the sun, have been transformed, and are now supplied in large part by fossil fuel energy, a non-renewable, polluting, and oftentimes non-local source of energy. The tonnara worked closely within bluefin tuna biology, specifically their reproduction, but has been replaced by a system that breaks the species’ reproductive cycles. The modern Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery is a clear example of social and ecological contradictions created by the modern processes of capitalist globalization and commodification in agri-food production.

The entire Mediterranean ABFT fishery, once a stable resource for local communities, is looking at the real possibility of social and ecological collapse. Already, small-scale fishing operations have been deeply affected and the celebrated tonnara in Sicily, its economy and its culture, has collapsed. The ecological transformations that are occurring due to social, mostly political and economic, drivers have been significant in this part of the world. The ecological consequences in turn affect and interact with the social transformations.

The significance of this rift is enormous. In the broader ecological picture, ABFT are considered a keystone species. That is, they have key characteristics that play an important role in the health of specific ocean ecosystems (Schmitz, 2007). The loss of these important species from the ecosystem will result in changes in population dynamics and a decrease in biodiversity, which can diminish the stability and resilience of the ecosystems (Hooper et al., 2005).

Beyond this, due to the transformation in socio-ecological metabolism there is a loss of culture, and intimate maritime knowledge that developed over centuries regarding the methods and activities surrounding bluefin tuna fishing. This collapse is noteworthy because the tonnara was a fertile and sustainable fishery. In a time when sustainable development is an elusive goal, practices that can contribute to sustainability must be cultivated.

The labor in the tonnara required intimate knowledge of and relations with nature, as well as a collective work environment. While capitalist social relations did emerge in the tonnara, particularly in the 20th century, this did not drastically change the interrelationship between labor and nature in the traditional fishery. The characteristics of this type of capture system depended on these relations. The tonnara was a labor and knowledge intensive system, and was not always easily amenable to the needs of capital. Surely, to some degree, it was transformed, but only within definite limits.

In order to meet the needs of capital, a new system of production and socio-ecological metabolism was required. The modern socio-ecological metabolism results in utilitarian relations between human labor and its environment, in which nature is regarded instrumentally. The years of knowledge and skills gained from maintaining a sustainable fishery are subsumed by a capital and technology intensive system that relies little on intimate understanding of the region’s ecology, and a great deal on market logic.

The advancement of local knowledge of natural systems and the bluefin’s ecology is displaced by knowledge held and controlled by powerful economic interests. Industrial capitalist ABFT production is based on highly specialized technical knowledge often required to run hi-tech equipment and heavy machinery. The subtleties of fishing and understanding of a local marine ecology are little regarded in this type of endeavor. Labor becomes increasingly subdivided and more technical yet, at the same time, requires less knowledge of the marine ecosystem or the ABFT ecology.

Economically, the local resources are utilized for trans-national corporate interests and much of the wealth generated from this system of production is extracted from the community. However, environmental degradation is left behind and this has its own short and long-term economic costs (externalities). Recent methods of production have created conditions in which bluefin tuna fishing is no longer a viable source of economic activity for the Sicilian local economy except under modern industrial conditions. That is to say, industrial production, coupled with the dynamics of the competitive market system, creates conditions in which it becomes impossible to maintain other systems of capture, such as the tonnara, due to the socio-ecological metabolism that it has created.

According to fisheries scientists, the future of the ABFT fishery is in question. From a policy perspective, this research indicates that management of the ABFT fishery should highlight the importance of the traditional fishery. However, ICCAT, and the nations that take part in the management of the Mediterranean ABFT, have repeatedly responded to the interests of industrial capital and have generally ignored the significance of the traditional fishery.

The Sicilian ABFT fishery has been exploited for its abundant tuna for over a millennium, providing a major source of protein for Mediterranean civilizations. Escalating pressure on the fishery has contributed to a host of environmental and social concerns. Environmental problems, such as those that have developed within the modern ABFT fishery, are rooted in social and historical processes and the productive relations that emerge from them. It is crucial to recognize that these processes and relations are driving socio-ecological transformations, i.e. changes in socio-ecological metabolism. Drawing from theory in environmental sociology, this research has revealed that the recent transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery result in a metabolic rift, and consequently, an unsustainable system of production.

Footnotes

Notes

References

Aguado-Gimènez

Garcìa-Garcìa

(2005) Growth, food intake and feed conversion rates in captive Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus Linnaeus, 1758) under fattening conditions. Aquaculture Research 36(6): 610–614.

Avolio

(1805) Delle Legge Siciliane Intorno la Pesca. Palermo: Reale Stamperia.

Babbie

(2005) The Basics of Social Research. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Bailey

(1985) The blue revolution: the impact of technological innovation on Third World fisheries. The Rural Sociologist 5(4): 259–266.

Bailey

Jentoft

Sinclair

(eds) (1996) Aquacultural Development: Social Dimensions of an Emerging Industry. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Bestor

(2001) Supply-side sushi: commodity, market, and the global city. American Anthropologist 103(1): 76–95.

Braverman

(1975) Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century.New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.

Clark

(2007) Marx’s metabolic rift: toward sociology of ecological crisis. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.

Clark

York

(2008) Rifts and shifts: getting to the root of environmental crisis. Monthly Review 60(6): 13–24.

10.

Clausen

Clark

(2005) The metabolic rift and marine ecology: an analysis of the ocean crisis within capitalist production. Organization and Environment 18(4): 422–444.

11.

Clausen

York

(2008) Global biodiversity decline of marine and freshwater fish: a cross-national analysis of economic, demographic, and ecological influences. Social Science Research 37(4): 1310–1320.

12.

Consolo

(1986) La Pesca del Tonno in Sicilia. Palermo: Sellerio Editore.

13.

Constance

Bonanno

Heffernan

(1995) The tuna-dolphin controversy. Critical Sociology 21(2): 59–65.

14.

Dalton

(2004) Fishing for trouble. Nature 431(7008): 502–504.

15.

D’Amico

(1816) Osservazioni Pratiche Intorno alla Pesca, Corso e Camino dei Tonni. Messina: Societá Tipografica.

16.

Doumenge

(1999) La storia delle pesche tonniere. Biologia Marina Mediterranea 6(2): 5–106.

17.

Ellis

(2008) Tuna: a love story. New York, NY: Knopf.

18.

Fischer-Kowalski

(1997) Society’s metabolism: on the childhood and adolescence of a rising conceptual star. In: Redclift

Woodgate

(eds) The International Handbook of Environmental Sociology. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 119–137.

19.

Foster

(1999) Marx’s theory of metabolic rift: classical foundations for environmental sociology. American Journal of Sociology 105(2): 366–405.

20.

Foster

(2000) Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and Nature. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.

21.

Foster

Magdoff

(2000) Liebig, Marx, and the depletion of soil fertility. In: Magdoff

. (eds) Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food and the Environment. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press, 43–60.

22.

Fracchia

(2008) The capitalist labour-process and the body in pain: the corporeal depths of Marx’s concept of immiseration. Historical Materialism 16(4): 35–66.

23.

Fromentin

Powers

(2005) Atlantic bluefin tuna: population dynamics, ecology, fisheries, and management. Fish and Fisheries 6(4): 281–306.

24.

Gaski

(1993) An Examination of the International Trade in Bluefin with an Emphasis on the Japanese Market. Cambridge: TRAFFIC International.

25.

Georgesçu-Roegen

(1971) The Entropy Law and the Economic Process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

26.

Goodman

Redclift

(1991) Refashioning Nature: Food Ecology and Culture. New York, NY: Routledge.

27.

Halpern

Walbridge

Selkoe

Kappel

Micheli

D’Agrosa

Bruno

Casey

Ebert

Fox

Fujita

Heinemann

Lenihan

HSP

Madin

Perry

Selig

Spalding

Steneck

Watson

(2008) A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science 319(5865): 948–952.

28.

Hooper

Chapin

Ewe

Hector

Inchausti

Lavorel

Lawton

Lodge

Loreau

Naeem

Schmid

Setälä

Symstad

Vandermeer

Wardle

(2005) Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge. Ecological Monographs 75(5): 3–35.

29.

Hormel

Norgaard

(2009) Bring the salmon home! Karuk challenges to capitalist incorporation. Critical Sociology 35(3): 343–366.

30.

ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) (2007) Report of the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS). Madrid. Available (consulted 21 November 2008) at: http://www.iccat.int/en/SCRS.htm

31.

Issenberg

(2007) The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy. New York, NY: Gotham Books.

32.

IUCN (2007) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Gland (Switzerland): IUCN - World Conservation Union. Available (consulted 22 January 2007) at: http://www.iucnredlist.org

33.

Jackson

JBC

Kirby

Berger

Bjorndal

Botsford

Bourque

Bradbury

Cooke

Erlandson

Estes

Hughes

Kidwell

Lange

Lenihan

Pandolfi

Peterson

Steneck

Tegner

Warner

(2001) Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293(5530): 629–637.

34.

Jacquet

(2009) Silent water: a brief examination of the marine fisheries crisis. Environment, Development, and Sustainability 11: 255–263

35.

Jorgenson

Kyukendall

(2008) Globalization, foreign investment dependence and agriculture production: pesticide and fertilizer use in less-developed countries, 1990–2000. Social Forces 87(1): 529–560.

36.

La Mantia

(1901) Le Tonnare in Sicilia. Palermo: Tipografia Giannitrapani.

37.

Lentini

(1986) Economia e storia delle tonnare di Sicilia. In: Consolo

(ed.), La Pesca del Tonno in Sicilia. Palermo: Sellerio Editore, 32–56.

38.

Liu

Dietz

Carpenter

Alberti

Folke

Moran

Pell

Deadman

Kratz

Lubchenco

Ostrom

Ouyang

Provencher

Redman

Schneider

Taylor

(2007) Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science 317(5844): 1513–1516.

39.

McEvoy

(1986) The Fisherman’s Problem: Ecology and Law in the California Fisheries, 1850–1980. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

40.

McMichael

(ed.) (1995) Food and Agrarian Orders in the World-Economy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

41.

McMichael

(2000) The power of food. Agriculture and Human Values 17(1): 21–33.

42.

Mancus

(2007) Nitrogen fertilizer dependency and its contradictions: a theoretical exploration of social-ecological metabolism. Rural Sociology 72(2): 269–288.

43.

Marx

(1977 [1867]) Capital, Volume 1. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

44.

Mather

Mason

Jones

(1995) Historical Document: Life History and Fisheries of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. Springfield, VA: Southeast Fisheries Science Center.

45.

Mazoyer

Boudart

(2006) A History of World Agriculture: From the Neolithic Age to the Present. Translated by Membrez

. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.

46.

Mills

(1959) The Sociological Imagination. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

47.

Moore

(2000) Environmental crises and the metabolic rift in world-historical perspective. Organization and Environment 13(2): 123–157.

48.

Myers

Worm

(2003) Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fishing communities. Nature 423(6937): 280–283.

49.

Naylor

Goldburg

Mooney

Beveridge

Clay

Folke

Kautsky

Lubchenco

Primavera

Williams

(1998) Nature’s subsidies to shrimp and salmon farming. Science 282(5390): 883–884.

50.

Naylor

Goldburg

Primavera

Kautsky

Beveridge

MCM

Clay

Folke

Lubchenco

Mooney

Troell

(2000) Effect of aquaculture on world fish supplies. Nature 405(6790): 1017–1024.

51.

New Eurofish (2007) La Città dei Tonni: Allevamento Tonno Rosso Castellammare [Motion Picture]. Marsala: New Eurofish.

52.

O’Connor

(1991) On the two contradictions of capitalism. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism 2(3): 107–109.

53.

Ottolenghi

Silvestri

Giordano

Lovatelli

New

(2004) Capture-Based Aquaculture: The Fattening of Eels, Groupers, Tunas, and Yellowtails. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

54.

Pauly

(2004) Empty nets. Alternatives: Canadian Environmental Ideas and Actions 30(2): 8–13.

55.

Pauly

Christensen

Guénette

Pitcher

Sumaila

Walters

Watson

Zeller

(2002) Towards sustainability in world fisheries. Nature 418(8 August 2002): 689–695.

56.

Pavesi

(1889) L’Industria del Tonno. Relazione alla Commissione Reale per le Tonnare. Rome: Ministero dell’Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio.

57.

Ravazza

(2005) Diario di Tonnara. Milan: Magenes Editoriale.

58.

Roberts

Grimes

(2002) World-system theory and the environment: toward a new synthesis. In: Dunlap

. (eds), Sociological Theory and the Environment: Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights. New York, NY: Rowman and Littlefield, 167–196.

59.

Safina

(1998) Song for the Blue Ocean: Encounters Along the World’s Coasts and Beneath the Seas. New York, NY: Henry Holt.

60.

Safina

(2001) Tuna conservation. In: Block

Stevens

(eds), Tuna: Physiology, Ecology, and Evolution. New York, NY: Academic Press, 414–457.

61.

Sarà

(1998) Dal Mito all’ Aliscafo: Storie di Tonni e di Tonnare. Messina: Editore Raimondo Sarà.

62.

Sawada

Okada

Miyashita

Murata

Kumai

(2005) Completion of the Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis (Temminck et Schlegel) life cycle. Aquaculture Research 36(5): 413–421.

63.

Schaeffer

(2001) Reproductive biology of tunas. Block

Stevens

(eds), Tuna Physiology, Ecology and Evolution. New York, NY: Academic Press, 413–421.

64.

Schmitz

(2007) Ecology and Ecosystem Conservation. Washington, DC: Island Press.

65.

Schnaiberg

(1980) The Environment, from Surplus to Scarcity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

66.

Staniford

(2002) Sea cage fish farming: an evaluation of environmental and public health aspects (the five fundamental flaws of sea cage fish farming). Paper presented at Aquaculture in the European Union: Present Situation and Future Prospects, European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, 1 October, Brussels.

67.

Tucker

(1978) The Marx-Engels Reader. New York, NY: Norton.

68.

Tudela

(2002) Grab, cage, fatten, sell. Samudra 32(July): 9–17.

69.

UN FAO (2005) Report of the Third Meeting of the Ad Hoc GFCM/ICCAT Working Group on Sustainable Tuna Farming/Fattening Practices in the Mediterranean. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available (consulted 23 April 2008) at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/y8870e/y8870e00.pdf

70.

UN FAO (2007) The State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2006. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available (consulted 23 April 2008) at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0699e/a0699e00.htm

71.

Vandergeest

Flaherty

Miller

(1999) The political ecology of shrimp aquaculture. Rural Sociology 64(4): 573–596.

72.

Villabianca (Marchese di) FFeG (1986 [1764]) Le Tonnare della Sicilia. Palermo: Edizione Giada.

73.

Wallerstein

(1974) The Modern World System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth Century. New York, NY: Academic Press.

74.

Worm

Barbier

Beaumont

Duffy

Folke

Halpern

Jackson

JBC

Lotze

Micheli

Palumbi

Sala

Stachowicz

Watson

(2006) Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science 314(5800): 787–790.

75.

WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature) (2008) Bluefin Tuna in Crisis. Madrid: WWF. Available (consulted 2 October 2008) at: http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/europe/what_we_do/mediterranean/about/marine/bluefin_tuna/index.cfm

76.

York

Rosa

Dietz

(2003) A rift in modernity? Assessing the anthropogenic sources of global climate change with the STIRPAT model. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 23(10): 31–51.