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Sustainability in San Pietro and Favignana

When raising questions about sustainability with participants in San Pietro and Favignana,

participants often made comparisons between industrial fisheries, and the tonnara and other

small-scale fisheries. They argued that industrial fisheries practice indiscriminate fishing and

capture large quantities of fish. Often Japan was used as a reference point and represented

everything wrong with the fishing industry, including indiscriminate fishing and unjust

regulations. In comparing their own fishing practices to those of large-scale fisheries they

often focused on specific characteristics of gear, and some also raised social and political

issues. This was illustrated in a conversation with Stefano Donati, director of the MPA in

Favignana, who works with local fishermen to address issues of illegal fishing. He says that

small-scale fishing is sustainable for two reasons (S Donati 2013, pers. comm. 6 July). The

first reason is that the nets are selective: ‘you take less fish, the right size of fish and the right

species of fish, it’s very selective, so it’s selective, so it’s sustainable’ (S Donati 2013, pers.

comm. 6 July). Secondly, Stefano focuses on social aspects such as regional politics and

community sustainability. He says, ‘when you preserve small-scale fishing you preserve local

community…the only chance to protect [fishing] is to also protect the local community” (S

Donati 2013, pers. comm. 6 July). But he says the real problem is the lack of compliancy

across the wider industry and those outside of the European Union. He suggests that:

...the problem should be faced considering the Mediterranean as a whole, you
know, and all countries should sign some kind of protocol. And it’s not like this,
today it's not like this. Italy, Spain, France respect some European Community
rules, while North African countries absolutely not and in, um, international
waters you also have Japanese and other boats working that are not obliged to
respect the European Community rules, so that’s the…the real problem. (S Donati
2013, pers. comm. 6 July)

Giuliano Greco’s focus is on gear and scale when he describes the sustainability features of

the tonnara. For example, he says the first reason the tonnara is sustainable is because the

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