In the 20th century, the population of sandwich terns in the Netherlands crashed three times. In the beginning of the century, hunting the bird was so popular that the number of nesting pairs was almost annihilated. They were hunted in particular for their feathers, which was fashionable on ladies hoods in those days. The population recovered, growing to around 46,000 pairs, until the Second World War arrived and the eggs became popular as a source of protein for people. The third crash was caused by poisoning from pesticides. The Dutch population crashed from 30,000 to 875 brooding pairs. Since then, the population has not fully recovered. A good year can produce an extra 400 pairs.

There are two reasons why the population is taking so long to recover. First of all, it takes a three years for a sandwich tern to be sexually mature, and doesn't lay anymore than two eggs per year. The second reason is a lack of food. When the herring stand crashed around 1990, it was had a tremendous influence on the birds.

The nesting areas of the sandwich terns are of international importance. Therefore, the sandwich tern is protected by the Bird Directive of the EC. This means that the Netherlands must establish extra protective areas for the species. The conditions for suitable nesting grounds include scarsely grown places along the coast where sufficient food can be found. Nor can the area be disrupted too often (people and land predators). This means that few places in the Netherlands are suitable for colonies.

Of the seven colonies in the Netherlands, three areas have large sandwich tern colonies: Griend, the Hompelvoet (Grevelingen) and the Hooge Platen (Zeeland). In addition, new colonies started on Schiermonnikoog, Rottumerplaat and Texel. The eastern part of Terschelling (the Boschplaat) is also a popular nesting area. In June 2004, a major storm caused enormous damage among the young terns on Griend. Park ranger Otto Overdijk from Natuurmonumenten estimated that 90% of the chicks were drowned.