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Environmental Justice Foundation - Save the Sea campaign |
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Duncan Copeland writes: Sadly, we no longer live in a time of ‘plenty more fish in the sea’. The latest assessments suggest that 80% of global fish stocks are fully exploited or depleted, and that we could run out of fish by 2048. Pollution, acidification and climate change all contribute, yet it is over-fishing, particularly illegal ‘pirate’ fishing, that is perhaps the greatest immediate threat. Not only to fish stocks and biodiversity; in developing countries pirate fishing is directly contributing to declining food security and severe poverty. Much of EJF’s work focuses on the most vulnerable countries, like Sierra Leone. Struggling to recover from a brutal civil war, the country is ranked last of 179 countries on the UN Human Development Index. Around 70% of the population live on less than a dollar a day, 26% live in extreme poverty, and 1 in 8 women die in childbirth. Most Sierra Leoneans live with little or no access to healthcare, education, sanitation or clean water and sufficient nutrition. Illegal fishing operations directly target countries like Sierra Leone, where governments have little capacity to patrol their national waters, and the pirates can operate with immunity. Every year, over a billion US dollars of fish is stolen from African waters by illegal foreign vessels. Fish is critical to the survival of thousands of communities in coastal regions. For many fishing provides the only source of income; without it children go hungry, and people die because basic medicines can’t be bought. The impact on food security of over-fishing and pirate operations can also be devastating. In the UK we eat about one and a half portions of fish a week - if we run out of fish we might miss it, but we could adapt. Compare to Sierra Leone, where diet options are extremely limited, and 80% of animal protein comes from the ocean.
Globally around 2 billion people rely on seafood; developing states are facing plummeting fish stocks, and with this mounting poverty
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Duncan Copeland is Senior Campaigner for the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a UK-based charity that makes a direct link between environmental security and human rights. EJF’s Save the Sea campaign works to end the impacts of illegal and unsustainable fishing operations. Here he talks about the need for increased awareness that in many regions of the world overfishing does not just mean collapsing fish stocks, but also has devastating social impacts. He discusses how efforts to ensure that fish are sustainable are vital not only for environmental reasons, but also because the correct choices can directly contribute to poverty-reduction in developing states.
and a looming food security crisis. Put simply, without fish, people will starve. But it need not be this way. Fisheries, if well managed, should be a key contributor to development and poverty reduction in many developing countries, providing food and livelihoods, and income to resource-poor governments. In Sierra Leone EJF is collaborating with the Ministry of Fisheries to build targeted initiatives aimed at closing down pirate fishing operations. At the same time we are working with our local grassroots partner the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone and local communities |
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to develop the country’s first Marine Protected Areas. We are also implementing a programme that will bring the Sierra Leone Navy and grassroots organisations together, enabling local artisanal fishers to monitor and report pirate fishing vessels to the navy – a programme that has already led to the arrest of an illegal Korean trawler. EJF is also working to tackle some of the market forces that drive illegal fishing in West Africa, most particularly the enormous seafood markets of Europe and the Far East, raising awareness among governments, businesses and consumers about the measures they can take to have a positive impact. Here in the UK, we’re developing a new initiative bringing together many stakeholders to ensure that seafood supply chains are sustainable, rejecting fish caught by pirate operators. Food links us all together, and in a globalised world we are each able to have an increasing impact, both positive and negative, on what contribution our food consumption makes. Each time we purchase fish we have an impact on our environment and other people. By ensuring that our fish comes from a sustainable, well managed source, it can potentially provide for both our needs and tastes while giving someone else a livelihood, possibly even a means to survive. EJF is working hard to make the fish you eat sustainable. But we can’t do it on our own.This Christmas we’re asking you to dig deep and help to support the charity’s work through 2010 and beyond. Help comes in many shapes and sizes, be it a donation or campaign collaboration. Please get in touch to see how you can get involved in this worthwhile project to Save the Sea.
To learn more about how you can become involved with EJF’s work visit www.ejfoundation.org, or contact
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Duncan Copeland Senior Campaigner EJF |
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