Good and bad pirates

My blog post from a couple of days ago was footage of activists dressed as pirates demonstrating against capitalism. It is always good to inject a bit of fun into campaigns but on the same day the Guardian posted a piece on slavery that exists on European registered fishing vessels.

This is from the Guardian:

Forced labour and human rights abuses involving African crews have been uncovered on trawlers fishing illegally for the European market by investigators for an environmental campaign group. The Environmental Justice Foundation found conditions on board including incarceration, violence, withholding of pay, confiscation of documents, confinement on board for months or even years, and lack of clean water. The ships involved all carried EU numbers, indicating that they were licensed to import to Europe having theoretically passed strict hygiene standards.

Wanting justice and fair treatment for both people and the environment is core to green thinking. Crazy greed for cheap food and goods drives this type of appalling behaviour.