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Not only has the style of work changed but also the number of jobs and duration for the work

has changed. In the past the work would last beyond the season throughout the entire year.

Luigi recalls that after the fishing season they would work from September to December or

even February in the cannery.

It’s changed a lot…Now in ten we do what 800 people used to do. For two winters
we worked canning, there were six of us and we would tin 40,000 tins per month.
Just made from here. (2013, pers. comm. 18 June)

The EU proposal notes that one of the social benefits of the traps is the high level of

employment of traps compared to purse seines. However, it also states that of the current 45

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direct jobs in the Italian tonnare, only 35 are paid positions due to the situation of low quota

(Ambrioso & Xandri 2015, 24). The EU proposal also states that in 2010 there were 45

employed plus 10 employees on dock, as well as staff of the canning factory, 4-6 divers, and

10-17 occasional personnel, with indirect employment reaching up to 100 (Ambrioso &

Xandri 2015, 24). A survey comparing the current employment to employment that included

land based activities (processing tuna, canning and preserving organs) stemming from the

mattanza, would be worthwhile.

The type of work available in these communities has also changed. Tourism has

become a huge industry. Up until recently the mattanza featured in San Pietro as a tourist

activity, along with diving with tuna trips, tours of the cannery, and the Giro di Tonno. In this

context tonnarotti performed the mattanza not only for food provisioning but also for culture

and tourism. Undoubtedly these extra activities involved different kinds of attachments and

performances. Today additional jobs have been created by tourism, such as work in

restaurants and hotels, tour operations and ferry work. In Sicily where the tonnara closed in

2007, it is a different story. As we saw in chapter four, the fishermen now fish for different

species and must compete with illegal fishers and declining stock. Speaking with a fisherman

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