This week our Oceans team has been down off the coast of Brighton testing a new boat which will be part of our increasing efforts to combat illegal ‘pirate’ fishing in West Africa.

The EJF Barracuda will go to West Africa next month, to track pirate vessels operating illegally which steal marine resources and damage fisheries.

West Africa, recognised as one of the world's richest fisheries grounds, loses up to $2.5 billion worth of fish each year to vessels fishing in protected zones or without proper equipment or licenses. The EJF Barracuda comes at a time when EJF’s successful community surveillance project is expanding its reach beyond Sierra Leone and moving in to other vulnerable areas of West Africa.

This vessel is larger and faster than our existing EJF boats and therefore better able to handle deeper, rougher seas. It can operate at night and has lights to help observe illegal activity, which often takes place under the cover of darkness, and radar that can be used to locate pirate trawlers.

The new boat means better action against pirate fishing and a new level of sophistication, in protecting the environmental security of coastal communities, their marine resources and livelihoods.