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importance of extending the analysis beyond the fishery and also beyond an ecological

paradigm. I have proposed that following and assemblic ethnography are useful methods to

bring socio-cultural dimensions to eco traceability projects and to extend traceability beyond

the fishery. I have opened up a potential research area into the many other places, people and

issues, suggesting that tin mining itself needs to be given attention if we are truly concerned

about the sustainability of tinned tuna. Even if we are content to silo the sustainability issue

to marine spaces, it is contradictory to ignore the devastating impacts of tin mining on the

ocean, fish and on fishing communities. In the case of the EU proposal, clearly a more

thorough cultural analysis would involve recognition of the wider context of harvest and

post-harvest practices as part of the tonnara. The methods I propose are grounded in

interdisciplinarity and could potentially bring together issues, such as labour rights, fish

welfare and species conservation, which are often dealt with separately. These methods can

also offer opportunities for academic researchers to collaborate with environmental NGOs in

their shared goal of rendering visible, and to take into account a fuller socio-ecological life

cycle of a product.

The argument about the productive power of sustainability, which I have raised in this

thesis and summarised in this conclusion, draws attention to responsibility – what places are

we responsible for in our consumption of fish? What issues ought to matter and be cared for?

How should we attune to the productive capacity of sustainability? Who or what groups

should bear responsibility for the way issues are framed and the unintended productive

outcome of sustainability?

Taking up this latter question, the case study of the tonnara of San Pietro and its

recent transformation and compromise offer a point of reflection. I am left thinking what

might have been the outcome had environmental NGOs offered the tonnare their political

support? This may have compromised the wider tuna campaigns led by Greenpeace and Slow

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