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Report back to The Funding Network
1. Name of your organisation and date funded by TFN:
Name: Environmental Justice Foundation
Date funded: EJF raised £ 12,315.63 at the TFN fundraising event in December 2013, and received
the funds in January and March 2014.
2. What was the project you sought funding for from TFN?
The funding was received towards a new surveillance vessel to support EJF’s work to end illegal
fishing in Liberia. The vessel was procured to expand on a successful pilot project in Sierra Leone, a
project which was supported by an earlier TFN grant. The new surveillance vessel was intended to
support a community surveillance project in Liberia.
The project objectives are to prevent industrial-scale illegal fishing by foreign trawlers in Liberia and
in the border areas with Sierra Leone, which threatens the food security and livelihoods of coastal
communities, depletes fish stocks and damages marine environments. This will be achieved by
raising local awareness of the dangers of illegal fishing, training communities to monitor illegal
fishing, and by operating a surveillance boat that responds to calls from local fishermen engaged in
the monitoring activities. In addition, EJF intended to use the vessel to conduct biodiversity
assessment and, using the results as basis, identifying conservation needs and appropriate measures,
engaging fishermen directly in the protection of threatened wildlife including sharks and turtles.
The overall aims of the project have not changed since we applied for the funding.
3. Were you able to do this work as you described it in your application and presentation?
Whilst our work in Liberia is on-going and contributing to marine conservation and the enhancement
of fish stocks, the original project as described in our funding application to TFN has not been
completed to date.
4. If you were not able, please explain what happened and why?
In 2013 we purchased a suitable sea-going vessel, together with the appropriate safety and
navigational equipment that were destined for Liberia to support our community surveillance and
research objectives in support of marine conservation and governance.
However, having purchased the boat based on assurances from the Liberian Government that its
import was guaranteed, we have subsequently encountered significant delays in receiving the
appropriate permissions from all of the relevant government agencies. Moreover, over the past 5
months, our liaison with the Liberian Government has faced hurdles as a result of the Ebola crisis
that has taken precedence over many of the on-going issues, including fisheries management and
maritime governance. Although EJF retains a long-term ambition to deploy a boat to Liberia, in the
summer of 2014 we took the decision to divert the vessel to the Ivory Coast ensuring that it can be
put into service as intended as quickly as possible, albeit in a different location. EJF is currently
finalising negotiations with Ivorian authorities for the vessel to start its operations in support of our
community surveillance programme in Ivory Coast at the beginning of 2015.
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Once the crisis is resolved in Liberia to an extent that allows for the implementation of our project as
planned, EJF will look to secure a third boat to continue its operations in Liberia and fulfil its primary
objectives there. We will of course provide an update of the progress of our operations to the
members of the Funding Network.
To compensate for this setback in Liberia, we advanced our community outreach in Liberia to engage
with local communities and raise awareness of the devastating impacts of illegal fishing. Until the
surveillance boat can be imported, we have focused on the community awareness and liaison, which
has enabled us to monitor illegal fishing activity from shore.
Despite the Ebola crisis and the current restrictions facing the project, we maintain our four local
staff members, who are still monitoring illegal fishing from the shoreline, and gathering reports from
fishermen. We are also leading efforts to prevent the poaching of threatened and endangered sea
turtles, educating the fishing communities to support conservation efforts.
In addition to this, we are now closer to effectively establishing our strategic aim for West Africa. We
are currently setting up our Community Surveillance Project in the Ivory Coast, working towards a
regional approach to end illegal fishing. This approach will engage communities in Sierra Leone,
Ghana and Ivory Coast with a total coastline length of 2317 km. This will subsequently allow for
expansion into additional countries located to the north and south and equally affected by illegal and
unsustainable fishing, and will work to stop those vessels that move across the regions to escape
sanctions.
5. Can you measure, assess or describe the change that happened as a result of this work?
What actual change did the funded project generate? What proportion of the project/work did
TFN fund (eg all/x%)?
In Liberia, EJF sponsored and produced a radio programme covering Robertsport (where our
community project is focused) and 14 other fishing communities, to spread information of illegal
fishing and the potential for community surveillance and cooperation. These programmes have
expanded to highlight the potential negative effects on the ecosystem of certain local fishing
methods such as beach seining or the use of monofilament nets, which carry high levels of incidental
‘bycatch’ of unwanted species or juvenile fish. EJF uses these radio programmes as a platform for
community members to promote fisheries management, strengthening the local understanding of
illegal fishing and the need for sustainable fishing practices. TFN funding contributed to 100% of the
radio programme and covered staff costs relating to this activity.
EJF provided capacity support and budgetary assistance to Community Management Associations
(CMAs). These raise awareness of the dangers of small-scale illegal fishing, and promote sustainable
artisanal fishing practices. By establishing these CMAs, we ensure the involvement of communities
and the long-term sustainability of the project.
EJF is also working to map the marine biodiversity (including threatened and endangered sharks and
sea turtles) in Liberia, to inform required conservation measures.
Through our work in the West Point community we identified that a large number of shark and ray
species are being landed and having their fins removed. With support from the TFN grant, scientific
studies and data collection schemes have been introduced to collect visuals and information on
endangered species landed by artisanal fishermen. The results reveal that species including the
Great Hammerhead shark (Endangered worldwide, IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered
Species) are present in the waters offshore, and subject to illegal poaching and incidental capture.
These results will be analysed and forwarded to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Bureau of
National Fisheries to inform them about the need to introduce regulations on the landing of
protected species along the Liberian coast.
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Despite the Ebola crisis, EJF’s local staff is able to work in coastal areas away from existing outbreaks,
and in collaboration with local communities, they are continuing to undertake beach patrols to
protect nesting turtles.
Adapting to the current crisis, our local staff are working to raise awareness and sensitise local
communities on Ebola, providing information on preventing disease spread and reduce transmission
possibilities among the fishermen communities. This is of course beyond the normal scope of EJF’s
mandate, but considering the local need and the implications the on-going Ebola crisis has on our
project, it is an important contribution to the health of our staff and the communities we have
developed long-term relationships with.
6. As a result of presenting at TFN, did you experience any of the following?
EJF is working with professional volunteers, and aims to recruit from this existing network to build a
committed and skilled team. Our volunteers play an important role in assisting with the processing of
information of illegal fishing vessels in West Africa, and we were able to engage additional volunteers
to support our work in West Africa.
7. Could you give us an estimate of how many people have been reached by the TFN funded
project/work and by how much?
In the north of Liberia, EJF works in Robertsport and 14 satellite fishing communities. In Monrovia,
EJF works in the deprived fishing community West Point—subject of international media attention
when it was quarantined in August 2014. In the South, a part-time EJF community monitor works in a
cluster of villages around the Grand Cess area. Collectively, these areas hold over 1,000 fishing
vessels with crews ranging from 2 to 12 people. The vessels are supported by equivalent numbers of
women working in processing industries as well as canoe builders and traders.
8. Can you tell us any personal stories to highlight the value of funding from TFN?
EJF’s Project Officer Patrick D. Sayon left Monrovia due to the Ebola outbreak to be with his family in
Grand Cess in the South of the country. Though EJF was not active in Grand Cess at that time, Patrick
quickly made contacts in the community and realized that poachers were targeting sea turtles
nesting in a nearby beach. He asked the EJF London office for funding to mobilize the local
authorities, sensitize the communities, recruit a few volunteers, buy torches and organize night
patrols on the beach to prevent poachers from targeting sea turtles and their eggs. Thanks to his
effort and the TFN funding, dozens of sea turtles have been able to return to sea safely and hundreds
of eggs have been protected from poachers.
9. Since presenting at TFN, has your organisation undergone any significant change(s) which
our donors would be interested to know about (these changes do not need to be related to
the experience of presenting at TFN).
We used the evidence gathered by our local community projects in West Africa to advocate for a
strengthening of measures to end illegal fishing in key fishing countries. This has resulted in groundbreaking information-sharing agreements with the Governments of Spain and South Korea on the
activities of their vessels. The agreement with South Korea also lays the groundwork for the creation
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of a joint surveillance programme and contains transparency and anti-corruption measures to ensure
that illegal operators cannot operate under the radar.
EJS was able to develop its community surveillance project in Ivory Coast and is expanding our
presence in West Africa, now covering four coastal states, with the aim of developing our presence in
additional countries. With the generous support we received from TFN, EJF was able to improve its
position as an organisation that can effectively generate social and environmental changes by
addressing a genuine need with participatory and innovative projects.
10. Do you have any other comments regarding TFN funding?
Receiving such support from TFN for the third time has been a strong affirmation of our work and of
our mission to protect the environment and the people that depend on it for their livelihoods and
income. It is a motivation for us to continue our efforts to deliver truly sustainable projects that will
benefit communities in the long-term. The grant from TFN has been an invaluable contribution to the
growth and success of EJF’s Save the Sea campaign, and receiving funding on such a personal level
has been an incredibly inspiring experience for us.
11. Can you please include any relevant photos or clips that may relate to the project?
1. Blacktip Sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) among catch in West Point, Monrovia, Liberia from April to
June 2013.
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2. Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna zygaena) on harbor, in West Point, Monrovia, Liberia; April
to June 2013.
3. Big-eye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus) among catch in West Point, Monrovia, Liberia from
April to June 2013
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4. Dead Copper Shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus), photos taken in West Point, Monrovia, Liberia from
April to June 2013
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