Page 208 - KATE_JOHNSTON_2017

conditions of State science (Deleuze & Guattari 1987, p. 362). Based on my fieldwork, I

suggest that there are forms of knowledge that become precarious because they do not fit

neatly into any of the categories – traditional, modern or scientific. The tonnara crews’

knowledge and the possibility to assert that knowledge in situations of ecological

management are compromised within current regimes of environmental management and

discourses of sustainability. The process results in a ‘hierarchy of credibility’ (White in

Harvey & Knox 2013, p. 138) that is highly contextualised. For example, in the context of

70
the mattanza harvest, which is fast disappearing, it is the rais whose expertise matters . In

the context of knowledge that feeds into the development of policy, the knowledge and

process of marine scientists is most important. Even if fisher knowledge may contribute

official knowledge it must go through a scientific process in order for it to be made relevant

in this wider context. And then again, in the context of actual policy decisions, a combination

of stakeholders (industry lobby groups, scientists and politicians) jostle for authority.

Importantly, this is not a situation where spaces of authority are neatly divvied up. Rather

there are interrelated contexts where conflicts can occur over what to be concerned about,

how to care for tuna and what knowledge counts as legitimate in this caring for tuna. It is my

intention to bring the conversation full circle to the conflicts raised in the previous chapter

and to the questions of how do we come to care? (Probyn 2014b, p. 10) And how do we come

to know?

My argument is a little intricate. I am not only arguing for a place for diverse

ecological knowledge in tuna management in the face of scientific regimes of knowing and

managing tuna, but I am also suggesting that the categories traditional and local knowledge

need to be questioned as an alternative to scientific knowledge, along with who of the

stakeholders have the authority to define those categories. This also involves questioning the

assumption that scientific knowledge is universal and modern.

196