No abstract

An industrial fishery is a geographical area of operation of a complex of capitals whose form of organization is the firm and whose medium of operation is fishing vessels.Tuna fisheries from the Bay of Biscay (1860s) to the Eastern Tropical Atlantic (1950s) and the Western Indian Ocean (1980s). The primary empirical focus is the Indian Ocean, where, after appropriating an initial, highly productive surplus, the European fleet intensified fishing activities and has partially undermined the natural conditions for the reproduction of its industrial-scale operations. I argue that the complex dynamics of capture fisheries can be better understood through the prism of a commodity frontier.Keywords: canned tuna, purse-seine fisheries, European Union (EU), Western Indian Ocean, commodity frontier, commodity chain INTRODUCTION Tuna fisheries are among the most highly capitalized and valuable fisheries in the world.While tuna sashimi and sushi are emblematic of the Japanese culture of consumption (Bestor 2004), it is less well known that the humble can of tuna is one of the most widely consumed forms of seafood in the United States (US), Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany. The US-and EU-centred canned tuna commodity chains each supply multi-billion dollar mass markets. Industrial fishing fleets provide the vast majority of raw material for canning. I define an industrial fishery as a geographical area of operation of a complex of capitals whose form of organization is the firm and whose medium of operation is fishing vessels. But the 'business of fishing' is not to be understood as an isolate. Tuna fishing firms are Liam Campling, School of Business and Management, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK. E-mail: l.campling@qmul.ac.uk I would like to express especial gratitude to Gavin Capps, Elizabeth Havice, Penny Howard and Jason Moore for their extensive contributions to various drafts of this paper. I also offer many thanks to Elena Baglioni, Henry Bernstein, Alain Fonteneau, Patrice Guillotreau, Satoshi Miyamura, Jon Pattenden, John Pearce, Ben Selwyn and two anonymous peer reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. The PhD research on which this paper is based owes thanks to many other people. All mistakes remain my own. I also acknowledge the financial support provided by a SOAS Research Student Fellowship.

Capture fisheries are constituted through historically specific environmental conditions and social and economic relations of production. Fisheries, whether saltwater or freshwater, are an important source of animal protein, livelihoods and exchange value in international trade, and are presently undergoing rapid socio‐ecological change. To explore the political economy and ecology of capture fisheries around the world, this paper synthesizes the insights of 11 empirical studies and places fisheries in the broader context of the capitalist relations of production through which they operate. The competitive market dynamics of fisheries production and consumption are examined, as well as the forms of social‐property relations, social differentiation, labour exploitation and resistance that occur within them. This paper highlights some of the ways in which the unique combination of characteristics associated with fish and fisheries complement and complicate familiar questions in agrarian political economy. It concludes by identifying future research directions.