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Thus, its transformation into a 'bloodthirsty' tourist spectacle has believe that their customary practices lend the right to continuity. To
brought about some resistance against the mattanza, in that animai
right advocates now liken it to bullfìghting and call it 'a bloody per-
formance for tourists'. 28 They argue that the tuna killing ritual has
lost its economie functions and should be abandoned. In their view,
the tradition has become 'outmoded' and should be discontinued.
The tonnaroti contest this view and point out that the mattanza is
not about putting up a show but about a way of life that has ancient
roots and a deep symbolic meaning. Rais Cataldo counters: 'W e don' t
do this to put on a show. This is fìshing.' 29 H e does not regard i t as a
'blood spectacle'. 'I don' t catch tuna for fun; I catch tuna for food, for
my livelihood.' 30 'There's blood, but it's not a show of blood. It's
about a way of fìshing, which has gane on for the last 900 years.' 31
N or does he wish any harm to the tuna, on which his entire existence
depends. 32 'What does fìsh mean? It means life. Fish is my life.' 33
When he was not a rais yet, Cataldo had already confìded to Theresa
Maggio (2001:18) that not the mattanza was barbarie, but the rais-
ing, feeding and fattening of calves to slaughter them. Likewise, ex-
perienced tonnarote Clemente Ventrone states that 'there is a lot of
discussion and dissension about la mattanza, it looks like a cruel spec-
tacle' but it is indiscriminate commerciai tuna fìshing that is de-
structive.34 Hence, the tonnarati attempt to legitimise their actions
by emphasising its economie and traditional importance and they
28 http://www. timesonline.co. uk/article/0 ,3-989891 ,OO.html. Las t ac- acutely aware of this fact. In a recent interview, rais Gioacchino
cessedMarch 21,2005.
29
http://www.italydaily.it/Italian_life/Features/febbraio/mattanza.shtml.
Last accessed August 18, 2004.
30 Video fragment on http://3w-production.de/Offers.asp#, Last accessed
June 27,2005.
31 Transcription of interview for Tonnara (Hope 2002).
32 http://www.taz.de/pt/2002/05/04/a0190.nf/text. Last accessed March
21, 2005. By the way, Cataldo is involved in the Slow Food movement.
33 Video fragment on http://3w-production.de/Offers.asp#, Last accessed
June 27,2005.
34 http://www.mareinitaly.it/intervista_v.php?id=85. Last accessed Octo-
ber4, 2004.
them, the mattanza is not 'staged authenticity' (MacCannell973)-
i t is 'work, ritual, religion and fìnally identity for Favignana' (Singer
1999:63). Nonetheless, its meaning has certainly changed:
Although almost everything regarding this fìshing technique and its
instruments has remained unchanged from the Middle Ages up to
today, one can't say the same about nowadays tonnare's inner sense
and importance and about their protagonists. What once was a
means of exploitation of a rich fìsh patrimony, w ha t was a technique
handed down with p ride and respect, and the surviving source of en-
tire communities- that seemed endless has now turned into some-
thing different. It now mixes various aspects in contrast: tourist
interest, obstinate will ofkeeping a tradition alive, make-shift jobs
for unemployed and fìrst temporary jobs for young people in a social
context so poor of prospects. 35
The turn to performing the tuna ritual for tourists was tono
avail. In 2003 and 2004, no bluefìn tuna were caught as a conse-
quence of a complete dearth of the fìsh. The failure to catch tuna
with the traditional method of the tonnara is generally attributed to
the use of modern fishing techniques by industriai fleets, mainly the
Japanese and Korean. In addition, the recent boom of offshore tuna
ranches, where small tuna- that have been caught long before com-
pleting their migration routes in the Mediterranean- are fattened
and then killed, frozen and marketed, has wreaked havoc. Conse-
quently, la mattanza is presently a dying tradition. The fishermen are
Cataldo said: 'Maybe it's not aver completely .... And maybe it is. Ei-
ther way, this beautifullife has turned ugly' (Rosenblum 2004). The
tonnaroti's future looks bleak: 'Once celebrated as valiant holdouts of
an ancient way of life, these men now survive on odd jobs and hang
around the wharf exchanging tales of the good old days' (ibid.). I t
looks as if the Favignana tonnara and its mattanza ritual will end up
like so many other Mediterranean tuna trap fisheries: relegated to the
decontextualised realm of folklore an d museums. In the 2005 season,
35 http://www.oltremarephoto.com/pages/tonnara.html. Last accessed
March 21,2005.