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To put the quota figures into perspective, the 2013 quota for all three Italian traps (all based

in Sardinia and operated through the consortium) was 165 tonnes. This amount had to be used

over the three Sardinian traps. If one trap were out of operation then it would risk losing its

license. As I have previously explained the break-even point according to Giuliano is 100

tonnes per trap. With this quantity Giuliano speculates that he would reopen the cannery and

therefore also be able to do mattanza. To put this quota into a national perspective, the overall

Italian quota in 2013 was 1950 (Addis 2013). The majority of the quota (1451 tonnes, 74.4%)

went to purse seine fleets, with 13.58% going to longline fleets (this was also sold on to other

fleets), the traps received 8.46% of the quota (165t plus 66t that it purchased from longline

fleets), followed by sport fishers at 0.51%, and a revolving fund of 3.03% (Ambrosio &

Xandri 2015, p. 24). In the 2013 season approximately 300,000 tonnes of tuna were let go

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from the Italian traps (Ambrosio & Xandri 2015, p. 24) .
There is an ever-present threat of trap closure throughout the Mediterranean, where

the once thriving tonnara communities no longer participate in the activities that have

defined them culturally and historically. This is the situation in Favignana, which stands as a

reminder of the uncertain future of all traps and the potential for a traditional practice to

become “museumified”. The insufficient quota is not simply a result of the status of the

Atlantic bluefin as endangered. Rather, it is the result of the hegemonic position of purse

seines along with the political struggles within the tuna fishing industry, in particular the

quota wars. Quota is the current political struggle that confronts the tonnara and other traps

in the Mediterranean. Yet to suggest that all sides are equally placed is far from the case.

Whether or not the narrative that I heard up and down the coast of Italy is true, that there is a

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mafia for tuna there is certainly an understanding that industrial fisheries have the capacity
to lobby in the European Parliament for a greater share of quota. There is also a perception

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that purse seines control the tuna , while small-scale fisheries do not have the resources to

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