Sint Maarten's Lagoon Is a Shark Nursery, and Fishers Are Being Paid to Protect It

Research by the Nature Foundation shows Sint Maarten's waters serve as a nursery for tiger sharks, Caribbean reef sharks and spotted eagle rays, animals that remain threatened by poaching and ghost nets despite local protections. Its MENAA (Marine Elasmobranch Nursery Area Advocacy) project, funded with EUR 114,000 from the EU's BESTLIFE2030 programme via IUCN and running for 32 months from mid-2025, is building the island's first fisheries monitoring protocol and a legal review of its fisheries legislation. Fifteen fishers have taken part in sustainable-fishing workshops and received about USD 1,500 each in goods or services as compensation, while a shark education campaign is being taken into schools. In July 2026 the Foundation held a free Shark and Ray Discovery Day with lagoon boat tours at the Simpson Bay Fish Market.