The boat project aims to build capacity and support among local communities in a top-down, bottom-up approach that engages the Navy and the Sierra Leone Government in combating illegal pirate fishing to protect marine biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods in Sierra Leone.The boat has three main functions:

Surveillance

The EJF boat acts as a community surveillance vessel enabling EJF local staff to monitor and document illegal fishing vessels in the Bonthe river estuary region and report via mobile phone illegal activity to the Navy. This new communication link enables the severely under-resourced Sierra Leone Navy to operate efficient arrests which target specific vessels identified by the EJF boat. The documentation of vessels illegally fishing also helps EJFs international campaign to raise awareness to end illegal pirate fishing.

Community Meetings and Research

The EJF boat enables EJF’s community coordinator to visit remote communities suffering the impact of illegal pirate fishing activity and work with them to facilitate an effective surveillance network in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Navy.

The EJF boat provides a key research platform for work by EJF and partner, the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL) to assist with the development of Sierra Leone's first Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The boat and local EJF staff are also contributing to CSSL efforts to monitor populations of endangered sea turtles.

Emergency Water Ambulance

Communities in the remote river estuary community of Bonthe are currently up to five hours paddle by dug-out canoe from the nearest medical facility and when possible the EJF boat responds to medical emergencies that cannot be dealt with by the first aid medics in a community (if they exist).

Watch the film of the boat's arrival here: http://www.ejfoundation.org/page648.html