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through these empirical encounters, focusing on language, images, devices and activities to

assess ways that sustainability was defined and practiced.

Language

During fieldwork in Italy I conducted all interviews with fishermen and with most other

interviewees in Italian. My level of proficiency can be classified as: spoken language "good

working knowledge" and comprehension a "very good command" (see Council of European

2017). I learned Italian language while living in the north of Italy from 2008-2010 through

private language tuition and everyday interactions. I conducted interviews with Giuliano

Greco, Christiano Giuntini, Beppe, and Giorgia Monti in English because they each seemed

comfortable with, had a very good command of, and initiated our conversations in English. I

also conducted the interview with Javier Serigot in English since Italian was a second

language for us both and Javier was a proficient user of English.

The translation process involved me first transcribing all interviews in their original

language, then identifying themes, and finally translating relevant parts of the interviews into

English. A colleague/friend, who is fluent in Italian and a native Spanish speaker, then

translated the quotes and sections from the original audio files, which I then used in the final

thesis. This second translation ensured I had understood the content and helped to draw out

any nuances I had missed.

Strengths and Weaknesses

These empirical materials and fieldwork sites have helped to illustrate not only the process of

rendering tuna sustainable/unsustainable but also the forms of culture in environmental

governance associated with tinned tuna and the southern Italian tonnare. Yet, negotiating

these multiple sites and materials through a following and assemblic ethnographic approach

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