Page 29 - KATE_JOHNSTON_2017

tuna preservation (a practice in decline), and harvest and post-harvest practices, on the one

occasion when tuna harvest took place locally. It became apparent to me that these practices

and their demise, along with the scarcity of tuna, were significant concerns for fishermen and

the island community. These transformations and concerns became central to my thesis and

remain useful insights into the dilemma of sustaining fish and fishing cultures.

As a second research site Favignana proved a useful comparison to San Pietro.

Historically the tonnara was one of the largest in the Mediterranean, known as the Queen of

the Sea, but as Stefano Longo (2011, p. 420) documents it turned from a ‘fertile tonnara to a

shadow tourist attraction’ before finally closing in 2007. Here my research focus was to

document the biographies of ex tonnarotti, to interview family members who currently own

and run tuna processing and trading businesses, as well as local fishermen and the director of

the Marine Protected Area (MPA). I inquired into the opportunities and issues facing

fishermen in the post tonnara tourist economy. The tonnara and tuna are symbolic in the

flourishing tourist market and remain meaningful to the community. Gourmet tuna shops

offer tourists the opportunity to take home tonnara mementos such as tins of preserved tuna

and postcards. While conducting research in Favignana I observed and participated in eco-

tourism activities and interviewed an eco-tourism operator.

Other research sites in Italy included Trapani, Marsala, the Greenpeace headquarters

in Rome, Genova (to attend the Slow Food event Slow Fish), and Camoglie (to visit a fishing

cooperative, marine park reserve and eco-tourism operation). I also conducted research in

numerous supermarkets across Italy to document tinned tuna and signs of sustainability

claims and eco-labels. In the fishing port town of Trapani (nearby to Favignana) I

interviewed an eco-tourism entrepreneur (and restaurateur), visited gourmet tuna shops and

spoke with the shop owners. I attended the local fish market on numerous occasions and

visited the fishing port on one occasion to watch the early morning arrival of large fishing

17