Page 211 - KATE_JOHNSTON_2017
P. 211
when the system first came to Sicily with the Arabic occupation of the island, as well as the
numerous transnational and regional interactions overtime, attests to this. For example, the
Spanish and Normans owned the tonnare at different times in history. And, as I detailed in
chapter one, with the expansion of capitalism and industrialisation the socio-economic
structure of the tonnara changed (Longo, 2009:150-55). Tuna and tonnara knowledge
development and practices were a part of these changes. For example, the knowledge
practices surrounding preserving tuna changed when tin cans replaced wooden barrels.
Certainly, in recent history, knowledge exchange between different Mediterranean rais has
been common. Luigi recalled a time when a Spanish rais came to Sardinia to share with him
his techniques of setting nets and knowledge of net placement. Luigi also recalled a time
when rais Giacchino (Favignana) called him to see how the season was going and ask advice
about nets because they were not catching anything in Favignana (L Biggio 2013, pers.
comm. 18 June). Knowledge exchanges have also stretched across the globe. Such an
example is for instance when technicians from Japan came and taught the tonnara crew the
technique of ikejime i.e. how to kill the tuna faster and bleed it to maintain colour and
freshness. This introduced new knowledge practices around harvesting and breaking down
tuna, as well as new tastes and ideas of quality.
Similar problems arise when analysing fishery science through Horborg’s framing of
decontextual knowledge. Contemporary fishery science has a long history in fisheries around
the world, and has been shaped by and has shaped local knowledge. In other words it is
spatially and historically contextual. As I discuss in the next section of this chapter, the
tonnare of the Mediterranean and tuna have been central to historical observation and
knowledge accumulation dating back 26 centuries (Di Natale & Indrissi 2012, p. 243). Indeed
the epistemological history of tuna science and tonnara knowledge is difficult to separate.
199
