The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 13: July 2001
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Proposal To List Smalltooth
Sawfish As Endangered
Rachel Cavanagh, SSG Programme Officer
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) has been seeking public comment on its proposal to list as endangered the US population of smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata. An extensive review has concluded that the US population, currently restricted to South Florida, is in danger of extinction.
This large, widely distributed sawfish is listed as Endangered globally and Critically Endangered in the North and Southwest Atlantic on the IUCN 2000 Red List (p. 8). It has been wholly or nearly extirpated from large areas of its former range in the North Atlantic (Mediterranean, US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico) and the Southwest Atlantic coast by fishing and habitat modification. Its status elsewhere is uncertain but likely to be similarly reduced.
NOAA Fisheries will make the final decision on whether to list the population of smalltooth sawfish as endangered. The public had until July 15th, 2001 to comment on the proposal to: Chief, Protected Resources Division, NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 9721 Executive Center Drive North, St.Petersburg FL 33702, USA. A copy of the proposal may be obtained by contacting this office at (+1) 727-570-5312 or on-line at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/species/fish/Smalltooth_sawfish.html. This site contains additional information, links to the status review for smalltooth sawfish, and the federal register notice.
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