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and therefore quota. In principle, ICCAT uses scientific assessments to determine

management strategies including the allocation of TAC for the eastern stock (the stock in the

Mediterranean), which in simple terms is ICCAT’s management strategy to keep the stock

above the MSY. Eventually, through a highly political process, ICCAT sets the TAC, and

then the TAC is distributed among EU tuna fishing nations, which then allocate quota to their

fisheries. The end result is a set tonnage of tuna that a fishery can catch per year. The original

quota is based on a percentage of the fishery’s previous catch, a controversial point I will take

up further when considering the closure of the tonnara in Favignana.

This is a clear example of a thing that is framed in realpolitik terms. However, in

actuality, as I detail below, such fish facts are produced in specific socio-technical contexts,

are highly debated within scientific communities, and go through a political process

involving fishery lobby groups with the economic and social capacity to push an agenda.

According to many marine scientists the data upon which stock assessments are made

and management strategies put in place is highly problematic. ICCAT also notes that there

are considerable data limitations for the period up to 2007 (ICCAT 2015b, p. 92). The data

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problem is summarised in a controversially titled paper by marine scientist Amoroso di
Natale. This is not a traditional scientific paper, he states, but an ‘attempt to bring the

discussion on the bluefin tuna along a rail of reality’ and account for the problems of data,

knowledge and the status of the species (2010, p. 1005). A major critique is the use of CPUE

methods to assess stock (Addis et al. 2012a, p. 134; Fromentin & Powers 2005, p. 297; Di

Natale 2010, p. 1012). The assumption is that a proportional change in CPUE will represent a

proportional change in stock (FAO in Addis et al. 2012a, p. 134). For a number of reasons

this is problematic. The main problem is this: CPUE for active capture methods that go in

search for tuna (e.g. purse seines, longliners), poorly reflects the underlying dynamics of fish

populations (Addis et al. 2012, p. 134). On this basis, some researchers argue that the tonnara

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