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Since 2011, the massive influx of sargassum on the coasts of the western central Atlantic and the Caribbean in particular has been a real scourge, causing health, economic, and environmental problems. Collecting and disposing of thousands of tons of washed-up rotting sargassum each season is proving to be a costly problem for populations, biodiversity, and public authorities. Work carried out as part of the NRA sargassum project, CESAR, has validated the initial hypothesis that sargassum can have various legal statuses, depending on where they are found and whether they are alive or dead. This variability is rich in consequences in many respects.