Environmental Justice Foundation

Our statement.

We have clear 🇪🇺common priorities with Environmental Justice Foundation. In today’s meeting, I found a precious ally for zero tolerance in effectively fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and safeguarding the health of our ocean.

This shocking footage shows dead marine life dumped on the seabed all in an effort to supply the market for scampi. Lack of monitoring means discarding like this can continue without any effective oversight. UK supermarkets are branding scampi as “responsibly sourced” but failing to do anything to actually resolve this issue. Support our campaign #SayNoToScampi by urging supermarkets to take more effective action: openseas.org.uk/say-no-to-scam…

@SREnvironment @ciel_tweets @FranceONUGeneve @UNHumanRights @Earthjustice @IucnOcean @ejfoundation @UNECE @IISD_news @IGFMining @IUCN Challenging the assumption that more critical materials are necessary for a green transition, Martin Webeler of Environmental Justice Foundation stresses it is possible to reduce the mineral demand by 58% if we implement #CircularEconomy measures.

As part of the #GENeva Dialogues on Mineral and Metal Resources, this #GRET2025 highlights threats of #DeepSeaMining, violations of fundamental rights it can imply and effective protection instruments addressing such threats. ▶️ tiny.cc/GRET25DeepSeaM… 📽️ youtube.com/watch?v=_uxATm…

Join the diverse and growing coalition of voices rising up in opposition. Urge your government to stand up and support a moratorium on deep-sea mining before it's too late: defendthedeep.org #StopTheMachines #DefendTheDeep

Deep-sea mining threatens marine life, the global climate cycle, food security, and underwater cultural heritage. Alongside scientists, Indigenous peoples, financial institutions, civil society, 32 countries, and many more organisations – we are saying no to #DeepSeaMining ⬇️

Our report also uncovered that fish tainted by this modern slavery may be reaching global markets. We cannot turn a blind eye to this suffering at sea when we may be finding the products of it on our plates. It’s time for strong transparency measures. ejfoundation.org/reports/trappe…

These efforts to hide the presence of North Koreans and keep them on board for long periods of time are evidence of a particularly severe case of forced labour. This takes place alongside illegal fishing, emphasising the wider trend of weak transparency in global fisheries.

Our investigation into illegal fishing and human rights abuses on board China’s distant-water fleet in the Southwest Indian Ocean made an unprecedented discovery – evidence of North Korean labour at sea. This likely violates UN sanctions.

#Informe | Un informe de @ejfoundation expone abusos de la flota china a civiles norcoreanos que pudieron permanecer atrapados durante una década en el mar. 👉🏼La ONG urge medidas de transparencia a Estados y ORP para combatir el trabajo forzoso: buff.ly/4k6SwIZ

China's tuna vessels used North Korea crews in breach of UN bans, report says independent.co.uk/news/south-kor…

Products of North Korean labour are making their way into global markets due to weak fisheries management and port controls. Human rights abuses and illegal fishing have no place in our world. We must shed light on them to prevent more suffering. fisheriestransparency.net/wp-content/upl…

Not only were the rights of the North Korean civilians restricted, the crew reportedly experienced physical abuse, verbal abuse and excessive overtime. We also found rampant illegal fishing on board these vessels, including shark finning and the capture of animals like dolphins.

Forced labour, physical abuse, and isolation for years at sea. Our new, unprecedented investigation has uncovered evidence of these abuses committed against North Korean crew on board China’s fleet in the Southwest Indian Ocean. Read “Trapped at Sea” ➡️ ejfoundation.org/reports/trappe…

“Their families don’t have any idea whether they are still alive or not" @nytimes coverage of @ejfoundation's new report revealing that Chinese fishing vessels used North Korean labour in breach of UN sanctions. The NK crew spent up to a decade at sea nytimes.com/2025/02/24/wor…