The quiet villages along the coast of Sierra Leone are in danger of disappearing. Natural resources are being taken illegally from their beaches and waters.

While the village of John Obey sleeps, the sand mining trucks continue to come for the sand.

Not only are the coastal villages suffering from depleted fishing stocks, their sand is also being mined for construction elsewhere in the country. The sand is unsuitable for construction, yet the miners return night and day to fill their trucks. Sierra Leone's youth unemployment rate is 60%. Although most villagers are aware that sand mining is having a detrimental impact on the village, quick money is too tempting to pass up.

John Obey fishermen set out with their nets prior to a storm.

Villagers from John Obey collect the morning's catch from the fishermen's nets. Fishing is the remote village's livelihood. Catches have declined over the years with the arrival of illegal industrial trawlers.

The village of John Obey comes together every morning to collect the fish.

John Obey fishermen head out at sunset for a night's work. The fish stock has been drastically reduced from years past due to illegal fishing by industrial trawlers. The fisherman are forced to paddle further out to find fish making their work much more dangerous and less profitable.

A local fisherman and his family relax at the end of the day. Making a living as a fisherman is becoming more difficult with the arrival of the pirate boats.

Further north and closer to the capital city of Freetown, the results of illegal sand mining and deforestation are evident. The area's natural resources are being ravaged to make way for a new road.

A fisherman makes repairs to his net. Quite often the local fishermen's nets are damaged by the pirate boats.

Some of the village men who've given up on fishing. Instead of fishing, they await the dump trucks that come by the dozens to mine the sand from their community beach. The sand is used for construction further north in the capital city of Freetown. The sand is not ideal for construction purposes.

Sand mining has been declared illegal by President Koroma, but it still takes place in broad daylight.

Villagers watch as the dump trucks collect sand from their beaches.

Local youth make 5,000 Leones per truck they help to fill with sand. That's $1 US dollar per truck per person.

Local unemployed youth in John Obey.

Local fishermen gather in the evenings at the beachfront club to play checkers.

Local fishermen in John Obey gather at the village's only night club. In the distance, a light from a pirate boat can be seen. Almost every night, pirate fishing fleets can be seen on the horizon. Sierra Leone's severely depleted fishing stocks are a direct result of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.