Until a few years ago, a mysterious ritual happened on the Egadi (Aegadian) islands off the east coast of Sicily every spring. A tight-knit community of fishermen, following a traditional leader known as a rais, would take to the sea in their boats and begin a chorus of ancient, beautiful songs. The rais led the chorus as well as overseeing the complex fishing routine – known as the mattanza, which literally means "slaughter".

The mattanza traditionally only occurred for a few days a year. It involved fishing tuna for the community and for sale, while allowing the remaining tuna to reproduce and restore their population over the following months before the ritual began again.