Transhipment at Sea: The Need for a Ban in West Africa draws heavily on the evidence EJF has gathered through its work towards the eradication of IUU, or ‘pirate’ fishing in West Africa. It explains how the international movement of fisheries products – both legal and illegal – often depends upon transhipments. The complexities involvement in fisheries regulations mean that transhipments can be problematic and are often linked to illegal fishing activities. EJF’s call on coastal and flag States to ban transhipments at sea in West Africa is part of the wider effort to combat IUU, or ‘pirate’, fishing.

This new briefing discusses the lack of control in authorised transhipments and the fact that illegal transhipment at sea is widely used by IUU fishing vessels to gain access to market. It makes the case for a ban on transhipments of fish at sea in West Africa as well as a ban on the entry of seafood from such transhipments into the European market.

The report is based on the findings of an EJF field investigation in Bangladesh. It reveals the significant damage to vital infrastructure, widespread devastation to housing, reduced access to fresh water for drinking, sanitation and irrigation, and rising poverty and hunger caused by increasingly extreme weather events and the gradual but sustained deterioration in environmental security.

Prawn production has been linked to a number of environmental problems and human rights abuses. This guide aims to clarify the issues and help you make the right choices when buying prawns.

This report by EJF exposes the continued role of the European Union and East Asian countries in facilitating a market for seafood illegally caught in West Africa. Following a two-year investigation by The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), “Pirate Fishing Exposed: The Fight Against Illegal Fishing in West Africa and the EU” highlights how local fishing communities are fighting back to combat this illegal trade.

During the two-year surveillance investigation, EJF documented rampant pirate fishing in Sierra Leone and laundering of the illegal catch into the European seafood market by vessels accredited to export fish to the EU.

Cotton production can be a pathway to development and is an important livelihood option for millions of people. However, production can have unintended social and environmental impacts, in particular this report outlines the role that it plays in contributing to water insecurity.

Cotton is one of the thirstiest crops in the world. Each year 198 cubic gigametres (Gm3) of water are used just to grow cotton and even more is used in processing it. ‘Cheap’ cotton is fuelling unsustainable production, and consumers commonly do not pay a price which reflects these costs. More than 80 percent of the water footprint of cotton consumption in EU member states is located outside Europe, in countries such as China, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.

The draining of the Aral Sea in Central Asia stands as one of the most damning examples of unsustainable cotton production. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest inland sea in the world, stretching across an area of 66,000km2. In less than a generation, it has shrunk to 10 percent of its former volume.

An EJF briefing outlining the legal void facing environmentally-induced displacees with recommendations for action for national governments and individuals.

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm

This report sets out the historic and existing governance arrangements for artisanal fishing in the Sherbro River Estuary, where fishing is vital to the livelihoods and food security of local communities.

Implementation of the EU Regulation to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing.

As a first step in community engagement, and to inform the other sets of activities in Liberia, in early 2012 EJF held meetings in 13 communities. These were spread across the country, though seven were focused in Grand Cape Mount County, which is the site of Liberia’s recently inaugurated pilot CMA.

This document sets out findings from each community. It also provides an analytical summary of results across Liberia that will inform a set of working recommendations that will guide EJF’s work with artisanal fishing communities, both in Liberia and elsewhere in West Africa.

EJF considers that the Commonwealth has a key role in addressing the unsustainable exploitation of global fisheries, both within the waters of Commonwealth countries and those of the international community. Global fisheries have effectively reached their maximum sustainable yield and if strong action by world leaders is not taken now, there will be severe economic, social and ecological consequences. Vulnerable coastal communities in developing countries are most at risk, as they often depend on fisheries for their livelihoods and food security.

EJF is working with our partners to secure a legally-binding, international protocol that can fill the existing gaps in legislation and ensure that the refugee support system evolves within the context of our changing world. This new legal instrument would recognize people displaced by deteriorating environmental conditions associated with climate change as a vulnerable social group, and confer them equivalent but legally distinct protection to that conferred to refugees fleeing persecution under the 1951 Geneva Convention. This briefing outlines specific recommendations for the EU, including the need to systemically link aid and development, environment and migration policies and decision-making.

EJF's report White Gold: Uzbekistan, Slave Nation for Our Cotton? summarises information provided by independent journalists and human rights activists on the conditions under which the Uzbek cotton industry operates, and produces evidence of young children picking cotton at the behest of the authoritarian Uzbek government.