Sawfish Conservation

The smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) is one of six sawfish species that occur worldwide in tropical and sub-tropical rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. 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.

Whereas sawfish were once abundant in many areas around the world, they are now very rare. This has prompted the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to list all sawfish species as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List. At present, sawfish are the only elasmobranch included in the Appendix 1 of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). 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 serious depletion of the U.S. population of smalltooth sawfish was the basis for the Ocean Conservancy's 1999 petition to list the species as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) decision to do so on April 1, 2003 (68 FR 15674). Smalltooth sawfish is the first marine fish species to receive protection under the ESA.

Under the ESA, it is illegal to catch or harm an endangered sawfish. However, some fishermen catch sawfish incidentally while fishing for other species. NMFS and the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Team have developed guidelines to fishermen explaining how to safely handle and release any sawfish they catch.

Currently the range of the smalltooth sawfish is primarily limited to waters off the Florida coast, mainly in the southwest region. This new level of protection will hopefully help this unique elasmobranch recover to its previous levels of abundance within U.S. waters.


How you can get involved in the recovery of the U.S. smalltooth sawfish population:

Populations of this species are in decline, thereby making all information about this species invaluable. You can greatly help conservation efforts both by reporting any sawfish encounter you might know, or by passing the word that encounters should be reported to us using our Sawfish Encounter Reporting Informational Sheet.

Distribute Flyers - Our flyer can be used both as flyer or as a tri-fold brochure. This allows it to be posted both in brochures supports and in windows and boards. Download our flyer and post it in any place you think it can be read by people potentially visiting sawfish habitat. Appropriate places may include bait shops, dive shops, marinas, bars, and restaurants.

The more people know the importance of reporting sawfish encounters the better for the smalltooth sawfish. We need to increase public awareness to obtain the maximum possible sawfish information. Any assistance with distributing information on sawfish is greatly appreciated and will assist with sawfish conservation efforts.

Report a sawfish encounter - Download our Sawfish Encounter Reporting Form and visit our Sawfish Encounter web page.

Thank you for helping us assist the recovery of the U.S. smalltooth sawfish population by reporting your sawfish sightings and encounters!