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thick and weighty ropes through the water. Divers below swam with the tuna and came up to

converse with the rais who shouted instructions – ‘a little to the left, to the right, bring the net

in closer, close the net’. The fishermen’s grunts became louder. The first few tuna glided to

the surface for a brief moment. On our boat the conversation turned to the contemporary

issues facing tuna and the tradition of the tonnara. Shannon asked Guliano why they still do

the mattanza. ‘For culture, for tradition’ he replied (G Greco 2013, pers. comm. 13 July). The

mattanza continued. The fishermen pulled the net tighter so that the bottom of the trap rose.

Tuna had less water to move through and began to flap frantically. What followed was a

thrilling, bloody, beautiful, odorous and loud scene that finished with a ceremonious prayer -

‘si allo dato ringraziato tantissimo sacramento’ (we give much thanks to the many

sacrificed).

Although this spectacle demanded attention and was the reason why diverse people

gathered at the trap, I looked around at the six or so boats and the ensemble of other

participants on the periphery. I ruminated over Guliano’s response ‘for tradition, for culture’.

It seemed to me that culture also existed in the contemporary configuration of the trap, which

was made up of coast guards, university researchers, business owners, traders, journalists and

a national observer. If we extend the list of actors to the more-than-human participants there

was also tuna and the many other species that came in and out of the trap. There was also the

Mediterranean Sea with its particular warm saline conditions ideal for tuna to spawn. There

are also things like a fishery license and quota. The trap itself and its configuration of ropes,

once constructed by hand from natural fibre, now made of lighter and manoeuverable nylon.

There was the large mesh size of the net that allowed small fish to move through. And finally

the controversial sea cage that sat on the fringe as a metonym of change. All these were

components of a techno-cultural and biological assemblage.

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