Author: Leslie Hickerson

Cole Bay – The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation has started a new research project under the lead of Master student Joey de Hamer, who is studying Development and Rural Innovation at the Wageningen University located in the Netherlands, concentrated on disaster studies and in particular disaster governance. His research is focused on disaster governance on St. Maarten in the wake of hurricane Irma, which devastated the island in September 2017.

De Hamer is researching how the island has responded to Irma and what this response has resulted in. Knowledge will be gathered about how St. Maarten has proceeded in the recovery process in the aftermath of Irma and to what extent this has led to the development of several situations affecting life on the island.

Both the response and recovery process will be researched and analyzed by planning several interviews with involved stakeholders. Therefore the Nature Foundation is encouraging involved stakeholders and interested persons to share their experiences and ideas on both the response and recovery processes in the aftermath of Irma.

If you would like to participate and talk to de Hamer about your experiences and opinions or if you know someone who would like to contribute, you can contact him via his e-mail – joey.dehamer@wur.nl – or via his phone number – (721) 581-5121 (no WhatsApp). All the gained research data will be treated confidential, names and locations will not be mentioned in the report and will not be retraceable.

 

Cole Bay, 22 October 2018, A video showing a group of men heavily mutilating and finning a live shark was posted on Facebook. The recoding was allegedly made in the waters of Curacao and shows a group of 5 men, who have apparently caught a shark on a fishing line, repeatedly stabbing it in the head and slicing of the tail while the animal is still alive.

“The total lack of respect for marine life displayed by these men is shocking” says Tadzio Bervoets, dedicated shark conservationist and chair of the Shark Committee of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance. “Sharks play an essential role in our oceans, as top predators they regulate the whole ecosystem. We should be thankful we have sharks in our waters as they keep our reefs healthy and full of fish. But here we see a helpless animal left to die a gruesome death while people cheer and laugh.”

Shark Finning, the slicing off, of a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea, is a cruel and wasteful practice that has been banned in most of the world’s fisheries. Curacao has signed on to international legislation banning finning in its waters several years ago (through ICCAT fisheries laws). Furthermore in 2016, during a Caribbean shark conservation meeting on Sint Maarten the government of Curacao vowed to pass legislation to create a shark sanctuary in their waters which protect sharks from human exploitation. However, to date, no such measures have been taken.

As large predators, sharks are key contributors to healthy marine ecosystems, adding to their biodiversity and durable functioning. The presence of diverse and abundant shark populations indicates the marine system is in a good ecological state. And moreover, the presence of large characteristic species forms a valuable commercial asset for Caribbean communities as an attraction for dive tourists. Shocking images and videos of shark fishing and finning on Curacao have been circulating on social media over the last couple of years, repeatedly causing a public outcry.

“In 2015, the DCNA launches the Save Our Sharks on all Dutch Caribbean islands and the Netherlands.” says Bervoets “The project worked towards protecting declining shark populations by improving knowledge about the sharks in our waters, get better protective legislation and educate people about the importance of shark conservation. Many positive results were obtained, including the declaration of several protected areas, and even regional protection of 9 species of sharks and rays. However, this video shows us a lot of work remains to be done in legislation and control but most of all in education. People need to understand sharks are worth so much more alive!”

reef shark
a Caribbean Reef Shark swimming in the Dutch Caribbean Waters

Last Friday, the Nature Foundation organized a beach clean-up with students of the Milton Peters College as part of the ‘Reduce and Reuse’ project. Thirty students removed 186 pounds of trash from Mullet Bay Beach in just half an hour, by using the Trash Tracker method developed by Ocean Cleanup Organization 4Oceans by weighing all the collected trash and using reusable bags and gloves.

The students also learned about the harmful impacts of littering and trash on our environment, marine life and wildlife. Littering causes serious negative impacts on nature and our environment. As an island, our trash and garbage washes down to the beaches straight into our oceans. Birds, marine life and wildlife are often found dead with stomachs full of plastic. Research from 2015 shows that 48% of fish tested had plastic in their stomach, by 2050 it is expected to have more plastic in the ocean than fish!

The students learned how to prevent much unnecessary trash and to reduce their single-use plastic usage by using reusable products, such as a reusable water bottle, take your own shopping bag and us a spork, instead of single-use plastics. All students received a donated reusable water bottle from the Nature Foundation to substitute their plastic water bottles.

“We are proud on these students because of their hard work this day, achievements and willingness to help the environment of St Maarten. These students maybe the future generation to protect our natural environment and that is very much needed on St Maarten! We hope the students will proudly use their donated water bottle and prevent 365 plastic water bottles per year to enter our oceans by using the reusable one. By using reusable products instead of single-use plastics, we are protecting our environment for future generations and reduce our waste output, as we all know the dump is already overfilled. Nature is our Future; let’s keep our island clean and sustainable together” concluded Nature Foundation’s Project Officer Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.

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