Smalltooth Sawfish

May 17, 2009

Release from: Byron Stout
News-Press.com (Florida)

Smalltooth sawfish may have smaller teeth than any other member of its six-species family, but that's all that's small about them.

According to the biological profile on the Florida Museum of Natural History Web site, the maximum length recorded for smalltooths is 24.7 feet, and the average length for adults is 18 feet - age unknown.

But being big hasn't stopped the sawfish from being endangered. It's the first and only marine fish to be declared endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

"The thing that led to their demise is their saw," said George Burgess, a member of the sawfish recovery team.

"As you can imagine, that saw is readily wrapped up in nets. This is an animal with great strength, and that saw can cause real havoc in nets. So there was a general kill-the-fish-when-it-gets-in-your-nets philosophy. In addition, that saw is a great curio that everyone wants over their bar, so recreational anglers have killed a lot of them too."

Sawfish use their saws for slashing at schools of fish, and for digging up crustaceans and other edible creatures they may find in the sand and mud bottoms they prefer. They are elasmobranchs, or non-bony fishes like sharks, but are more closely related to stingrays.

Scientists are only beginning intensive studies to determine what needs to be done to save sawfish from extinction. Burgess returned last week from the Florida Keys, where he and other scientists were able to put satellite tags on three sawfish to 16 feet in length, and tag a fourth with a conventional tag. Those fish were captured in Florida Bay by recreational fishing guides out of Islamorada who recently reported catching unusual numbers of the big fish.

Anglers also have been catching unusual numbers of sawfish in the Caloosahatchee River, which Burgess said was a very important nursery area for the species. And he said reports from local anglers and others who encounter sawfish are very important to their study.

"We need to get the word out to everybody to understand the plight of these things.

"Photographs are really important and we really want to get those, no matter how crappy they are, to document those encounters. We want everybody who sticks a hook or net in the water to respond with sightings."

People who do catch or otherwise encounter sawfish are encouraged to report them on the Florida Museum of Natural History Web site, at: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/sawfish/sawfishform1.htm

People who fill out the online form and send in photos will be contacted for followup by recovery team personnel.