Seafood Champion finalists named at Seafood Expo Asia

Category: Advocacy
Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF)

The Environmental Justice Foundation's Oceans Campaign is committed to eradicating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU), or ‘pirate’ fishing, to encourage full transparency and traceability within seafood supply chains and markets and to advocate for better marine governance. By depleting fish stocks, pirate fishing is a threat to marine ecosystems and environments and severely compromises the food security and livelihoods of vulnerable coastal communities. Since 2010, EJF has implemented a community surveillance project in Sierra Leone, and evidence from an EJF information-gathering and sharing project across all West Africa to monitor vessel activities has resulted in the arrest and sanctioning of illegal vessels. At the EU level, EJF works to support the full implementation of the EU IUU Regulation aiming to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. In 2014, EJF's investigation in Thailand revealed the continuing brutal trade in modern-day slaves. Thailand's seafood exports are the third most valuable in the world, supplying markets in the US, Europe and Asia but far from the attention of consumers vulnerable migrants in search of a better future are being trafficked, exploited, abused and even murdered aboard Thai fishing vessels. EJF’s Oceans advocacy work has also raised considerable awareness amongst retailers, importers and restaurants of the dangers posed by IUU fishing. Collectively, EJF’s work in the field and on a global level is reducing the demand for illegal fish, helping port States keep illegal fish out of their country and enabling coastal and flag States to sanction boats that violate fisheries laws and regulations.