‘A frenzy of bodies in the chamber of death’: Italian fishers fight to preserve an ancient tradition

A sustainable technique for catching tuna that goes back thousands of years is on the verge of extinction in Italy – but not for a lack of fish

On an overcast morning, several miles off Sardinia’s east coast, four men jump into a net where 49 giant Atlantic bluefin tuna are fighting for their lives. For 30 minutes, the men struggle in a frenzy of nets, tails, fins and sleek silvery bodies before finally securing a metal hook through the gills of the nearest fish.

From one of seven wooden boats framing this càmira dâ morti (“chamber of death”), Luigi Biggio yells for his men to pull.

Death comes quickly, in a technique that, while bloody, may be more humane than suffocation in trawler nets. But the men in among them can end up in hospital from a whack of the thrashing fishes’ tails