FEDERICA ZAMBELETTI/KOOZ What prompted your interest in tuna and the economy of its ‘extraction’ from the ocean? What does the term ‘liquid urbanism’ mean for you?

ZHI RAY WANG My interest in the topic started with a combination of personal background and academic curiosity. My grandfather worked in the global fishing industry; growing up in Taiwan — one of the world’s most productive fishing nations — this industry was always part of my life. However, he did not share many stories with me before passing away. This personal connection is one of the reasons that led me to explore the broader global impact of fishing, particularly in how it intersects with urbanism and international trade networks.

As I delved deeper, I found that the global fishing industry embodies a new form of urbanism — one that is not tied to land or traditional city structures. This led to my conceptualisation of "liquid urbanism." To me, this term refers to a form of urban space that can’t be defined solely by its physical characteristics. Instead, it must be understood as an ongoing process shaped by multiple things such as economic, social, and political forces. It represents a type of urbanism that flows across borders, carried by global trade routes, labour migration, and ecological impacts. In this sense, the oceans become a fluid territory where both human and non-human actors (like tuna) are central to understanding how space is organised and controlled.

KOOZ How did the fishing of tuna develop from a local subsistence endeavour into a multimillion-dollar economy? What role was played by technological innovation?

ZRW The global tuna industry has expanded dramatically, transforming from a localised subsistence practice into a mega-economic powerhouse. Historically, fishing was a local activity, primarily serving the needs of nearby communities. With technological advances such as internal combustion engines and refrigeration systems, the scope of fishing activities expanded beyond local waters into distant oceans. I often refer to this as the "technology of time" — advances that allowed for faster transportation and better preservation, thereby extending both the spatial and temporal limits of fishing operations.

The introduction of internal combustion engines allowed fishing vessels to travel farther and operate for longer periods. Previously constrained by wind and sail, these engines provided the power necessary to venture into distant waters, a crucial development for industrial-scale fishing. Likewise, refrigeration technologies revolutionised the industry by enabling the long-term storage of catches. This allowed fishers to capture more than local communities could consume, thus facilitating the global export of fresh tuna. High-grade tuna, often destined for sashimi markets, could be flown directly to urban centres, while lower-grade tuna would be processed in canneries located on small Pacific islands. These islands, situated near the prime fishing zones, became economic hubs due to their strategic roles in the tuna supply chain.

The development of these technologies didn’t just affect the scale of fishing; it also reshaped the geopolitical and economic landscapes of distant-water fisheries. Islands that were once peripheral became critical nodes in a global extraction network, linking the oceanic resources of the Pacific to markets across the globe. On the other hand, it also means that a longer fishing process might happen offshore. Labourers are forced to spend weeks and months in the extracting machine and work without proper rest.

KOOZ What are the main international regulations which govern fisheries in the Pacific? To what extent do these reflect the global community’s growing attention towards conservation?

ZRW The Pacific Ocean is governed by a complex web of international regulations that attempt to balance national interests with global concerns about resource conservation. One of the foundational regulations is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) that extend 200 nautical miles from a country’s coastline. Within these zones, states have exclusive rights to explore and exploit marine resources. Beyond these zones — in international waters — regulations are much looser, leading to significant challenges in the enforcement of sustainable fishing practices.

In my research, I mapped the movements of a Taiwanese fishing vessel using GIS tools, noticing that it often lingered in unregulated international waters for extended periods. This suggests that fishing fleets are actively exploiting gaps in international regulations to maximise their catch, often without regard for sustainability. The lack of comprehensive oversight in these areas allows for overfishing and the depletion of tuna stocks, pushing the species closer to endangered status.Moreover, the labour practices in the fishing industry are deeply problematic. Large corporations that buy tuna from individual boats often disclaim responsibility for labour abuses, leaving foreign workers vulnerable. Many labourers — particularly those from Southeast Asia — are subjected to exploitation, with little recourse for legal protection. For instance, in Taiwan, foreigners who fish don’t have voting rights, which means their issues are rarely prioritised by politicians. Only through the efforts of NGOs like Greenpeace has the international community begun to take notice of these labour abuses. There is hope that new international agreements will address both environmental and labour concerns, pushing for a more equitable and sustainable fishing industry.

KOOZ The project takes parts of the Pacific as a site for the research. What tools and methods did you deploy throughout the research to investigate this vast space and the extraction of labour entailed?

ZRW Throughout my research, I collected data from websites like Global Fishing Watch, an open-source platform that provides real-time tracking of fishing vessels. This allowed me to map the time durations and geolocations of ships operating in the Pacific. By analysing these patterns, I could see how vessels move through unregulated waters and how long they remain at sea, often for months without docking. This highlights not only the endurance of the ships but also the extreme working conditions faced by the crews, who often work in 24-hour shifts to maximise the catch, according to Greenpeace’s report.Even when these boats are docked at harbours, many labourers continue to live on the ships, as they have no property or rentals in the area. This transient lifestyle, forced by economic necessity, reflects a broader system of exploitation where labourers are treated as extensions of the vessels, with little regard for their well-being.

KOOZ The tuna economy is one which is extractive of both people and the planet. How does the project approach these two forms of extraction and what is the potential of visualising these unseen dynamics?

ZRW This project attempts to expose the dual extraction of both labourers and natural resources by the global tuna industry. Mapping these dynamics was particularly challenging because the labour practices and environmental impacts are often hidden from view. I gathered data from multiple sources, including company records and NGO reports, to trace the complex supply chains that link tuna fishing to global markets.The industry’s extraction processes can be broken down into several categories: human resource allocation, natural resource extraction, capital investment, product processing, and marketing. Each of these stages involves different actors and scales of exploitation — whether it’s the overfishing of tuna stocks or the underpayment of foreign workers. My maps and visualisations aim to render these unseen processes visible, revealing how the global tuna industry is built on unsustainable practices that harm both people and the environment.

Bio

Zhi Ray Wang is a researcher and architect based at MIT, where he is a dual-master candidate for the SMArchS Urbanism and SMEECS ('25). With a background in architecture and a focus on human-centred research, Ray’s work explores the intersections of urbanism, technology, and sustainability. Ray is a teaching assistant in the MIT Department of Architecture’s Art, Culture, and Technology program and a research assistant in the HCI Engineering Group at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Before joining MIT, he was a registered architect from Taiwan, with project experience in Kyoto, Taipei, Singapore, and Boston.

Federica Zambeletti is the founder and managing director of KoozArch. She is an architect, researcher and storyteller whose interests lie at the intersection between art, architecture and regenerative practices. In 2022 Federica founded KoozArch with the ambition of creating a space where to research, explore and discuss architecture beyond the limits of its built form. Prior to dedicating her full attention to KoozArch, Federica collaborated with the architecture studio and non-profit agency for change UNA/UNLESS working on numerous cultural projects and the research of "Antarctic Resolution". Federica is an Architectural Association School of Architecture in London alumni.