Figure 1.
Position of Saba Bank within the Caribbean region.
Saba Bank is part of the inner arc of the Lesser Antilles.
Figure 2.
Saba Bank and surrounding islands, with territorial waters and EEZ boundaries.
The Netherlands Antilles is currently in the process of declaring its Exclusive Economic Zone. The boundaries of this EEZ coincide with those of the current Exclusive Fisheries Zone (EFZ) and consist in most cases of accepted international equidistance lines between countries; only the boundary with Venezuela has been agreed and specified in a bilateral treaty between the Netherlands and Venezuela. About 20% of Saba Bank falls within the “twelve-miles zone” or territorial waters of the island of Saba, the rest falls completely within the EEZ boundaries and thus under direct federal jurisdiction of the Netherlands Antilles.
Figure 3.
Saba Bank bathymetric map and human use.
Various conflicting uses are made of Saba Bank. Fish and lobster traps are set over most parts of Saba Bank, while tankers routinely anchor in the same areas, not only damaging the bottom but also running over the trap markers and causing many traps to be lost. Anchoring also happens in the coral reef areas on the eastern edges. The map also shows whale sightings recorded by the vessel Song of the Whale during a regional survey in 2006, more research is needed on the cetaceans of the Saba Bank.