National Shark Research Consortium
Florida Program for Shark Research - Florida Museum of Natural History
Featured Projects
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NSRC Featured Project:
The National Sawfish Encounter Database Relocates to the Florida Program for Shark Research
Whereas sawfish were once abundant in many areas around the world, they are now very rare and all six sawfish species
are listed as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List. The smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) is one of two
species of sawfish that inhabit U.S. waters. Sawfish are characterized by a long life span, slow growth rates, late
maturation, and low fecundity (birth rates). In addition to these traits, sawfish also become easily entangled in
fishing gear, thus making all sawfish species extremely vulnerable to overfishing and slow to recover from population
depletion. Unfortunately, habitat destruction and overfishing have resulted in eradicating the smalltooth sawfish from
the majority of its former range. Based on the contraction in range and anecdotal data, it is likely that the U.S.
population is currently at a level less than 5% of its size at the time of European settlement.
The National Sawfish Encounter Database (NSED), was housed initially in Mote Marine Lab, and started as a sawfish
tracking database to gather information regarding sawfish sightings. This information was used during the listing
process of the smalltooth sawfish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This initial
information allowed the researchers to prove in 1999 that the North American population of this species was
endangered and needed protection. Once the species was listed under the ESA in 2003, the database kept
assisting the researchers in the evaluation of the species abundance and habitat range. Currently, the
database records along with the research data, are used to estimate the population size and to identify
the smalltooth habitat preferences.
In September 2008, the NSED was transferred from Mote Marine Lab to the Florida Program for Shark Research (FPSR)
at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH). The NSED is currently integrating the Mote Marine Lab database
with five other sawfish databases: one from the FLMNH, two from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(research and encounters' interviews), and two databases from private sawfish aficionados, Jason Seitz and Matthew
McDavitt. As a result, all existing information regarding U.S. smalltooth sawfish will be held
under the NSED at the FLMNH. The FPSR will be handling all future sawfish encounter reports.
Sawfish encounter reports still are a very important tool for the conservation efforts. Both recent and historic
reports assist in conservation efforts,and this type of information is vital for the success of the U.S. smalltooth
sawfish population.
Since the database was transferred we have received forty-four sawfish encounter reports. Forty-one were recent encounters
within 2008 and three corresponded to older encounters. Two of them were from outside the U.S., Bahamas and Israel respectively.
Sawfish encounters reported in 2008 to the Florida Museum of Natural History
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One of the main objectives of the FPSR, regarding the NSED, is to inform the public about the NSED
transfer from Mote Marine Lab to the FLMNH. Other objectives include distributing the new reporting contact information, as well
as increasing public awareness about the importance of reporting. Over the past months we have tried to reach the public
through four different ways: direct contact (general public and fishing guides), media (general public), workshops
(teachers) and oral presentations (researchers).
Since the official transfer of the NSED from Mote Marine Lab to the FLMNH in September, the FPSR gave several
interviews both to local and national newspapers, as well as radio and television. These interviews have
focused on sawfish conservation, the importance of reporting sawfish encounters and the new NSED contact information.
We expect the number of reports will rise rapidly as we increase our public outreach efforts.
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