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and fishery standards as normative forms of governmentality. Of course the Maldives is a

different kettle of fish, with a different socio-political and historical context to Eastern

Europe. But this is precisely Dunn’s point. There is an assumption that each zone shares the

same set of problems, which the same standards can address (Dunn 2007, p. 180). ‘But why

is it that the standards developed for one set of circumstances appear to be applicable or

attractive in a completely different context?’ (Dunn 2007, p. 180). It is worth questioning the

particular context of the Maldives and asking, what function beyond the intended explicit

function (i.e. sustaining tuna stocks and building Maldivian fishery industry) do eco

certification standards play in the Maldivian tuna fishing communities?

As I have suggested, the new networks do not arise from an apolitical or ahistorical

context. In the Maldivian tuna industry (including fishing and canning) the history of

international relations with big businesses and NGOs such as Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) goes back to the 1970s. After the export of Maldives Fish (dried and

cured fish) ceased in the 1970s due to restrictions on Sri Lankan imports (Dagbjartsson 1983,

p. 58), the Maldivian industry began to diversify. From the 1970s Japanese corporations were

involved in tuna export and canning (Sinan n.d., p. 9; Barclay 2013, p. 25). For example, the

Marubeni Corporation started buying tuna from the Maldives for canning before establishing

a joint-venture cannery on the island of Felivaru in 1978 (Barclay 2013, p. 25). Since the

1980s when Marubeni Corporation left the island due to fluctuating tuna prices, the state-

owned enterprises conducted all the trading in cannery and frozen tuna, and operated the

cannery up until 2003 (Barclay 2013, p. 25). Until the government decided to privatise the

skipjack tuna post-harvesting sector in 2003, the state owned company Maldives Industrial

Fisheries Company had a complete monopoly (FAO 2009). Not only have large corporations

had involvement in the tuna industry but also in the 1980s, the UN Food and Agriculture

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