Author: twiley

Sawfish Handling and
Release Guidelines

General Guidelines:

If a sawfish is hooked or netted it should be released immediately. Remove as much fishing gear as safely possible.
Keep the sawfish in the water as much as possible.
Do not remove the saw (rostrum) or injure the animal in any way.
Sawfish are large, powerful animals that can cause serious injury. For your safety, and the safety of the sawfish, use extreme caution if you hook or net one.

Sawfish Handling and
Release Guidelines

Smalltooth Sawfish
Conservation
Information &
Handling and
Release Guidelines for Highly Migratory Species (HMS)Fisheries

TRAWL or GILLNET Gear:

Use a line cutting pole or knife to cut any net tangled around the saw by cutting the mesh along the length of the saw.
Once mesh is cut, work it free with a boat hook or line cutting pole.

LONGLINE Gear:

Use line cutting poles, bolt cutters, and boat hooks to aid in removing gear from the sawfish.
If the sawfish is hooked, and not entangled, cut the line as close to the hook as possible.
If the sawfish is hooked and line is tangled around the saw (rostrum), remove all line with boat hook or line cutting pole, then cut the line as close to the hook as possible.
If hooked internally, do NOT attempt to remove the hook, use line cutting pole or boat hook to remove as much line as possible.

This pamphlet was produced by Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sawfish Research Project for NOAA Fisheries Service Protected Resources Division, under Solicitation # WC133F-06-RQ-0656, in compliance with Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act.

National Marine Fisheries Service
Protected Resources Division
263 13th Avenue, South Saint Petersburg, Florida 33701
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/

Photos courtesy of Florida Museum of Natural History and Mote Marine Laboratory

NOAA
Fisheries Service
October 2006

This pamphlet provides information on the biology, population history, safe handling and release guidelines, and encounter reporting details for the endangered smalltooth sawfish.

Background
Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata) have been listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since April 1, 2003. This species is also listed as Critically Endangered on The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The ESA prohibits, among other things, the take of endangered sawfish, which means to "harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or to attempt to engage in any such conduct." Incidental taking of sawfish as bycatch in HMS fisheries is not illegal
so long as it is in compliance with the terms and conditions of the fisheries' biological opinions.
This brochure was developed to provide fishermen permitted in Highly Migratory Species (HMS) fisheries with guidelines on how to safely handle and release any sawfish they catch.

Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Team After the listing under the ESA, NOAA Fisheries convened the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Team comprised of scientists, fisheries managers, and natural resource managers, to develop a plan to recover the U.S. population of smalltooth sawfish. The plan recommends specific steps to recover the population, focusing on reducing fishing impacts, protecting important habitats, and educating the public.
Species Description
Sawfish, like sharks, skates and rays, belong to a class of fish called elasmobranchs, whose skeletons are made of cartilage. Sawfish are actually modified rays with a shark-like body, and gill slits on their ventral, or under, side. Sawfish get their name from their "saws" - long, flat snouts edged with teeth that are used to locate, stun, and kill prey. Their diet includes mostly fish but also some crustaceans. Smalltooth sawfish commonly reach 18 ft in length, and may grow to 20 ft. Little is known about the life history of these animals, but they may live up to 50 years, maturing after about 10 to 20 years. Smalltooth sawfish are born live, in litters of up to 20 pups.

Smalltooth vs. Largetooth Sawfish

The smalltooth sawfish is one of two species of sawfish that inhabit U.S. waters. However, the largetooth sawfish has not been definitively recorded in US waters for several decades. Several characteristics make the two species easy to distinguish.

Smalltooth Sawfish / Pristis pectinata (left)	Largetooth Sawfish / Pristis perotteti (right)
Saw slightly tapers to tip	Saw much wider at base than tip
23-34 teeth per side of saw	14-21 teeth per side of saw
First dorsal fin over origin of pelvic fins	First dorsal fin well in front of origin of pelvic fins
Caudal fin lacks a lower lobe	Caudal fin contains distinct lower lobe

Distribution
Historically, the U.S. population was common throughout the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida, and along the east coast from Florida to New York. The current range of this species has contracted to peninsular Florida, and smalltooth sawfish are relatively common only in the Everglades region at the southern tip of the state. No accurate estimates of abundance trends over time are available for this species. However, available records, including museum records and anecdotal fisher observations, indicate that this species was once common throughout its historic range and that smalltooth sawfish have declined dramatically in U.S. waters over the last century.

Habitat
Sawfish species inhabit shallow coastal waters of tropical seas and estuaries throughout the world. They are usually found in shallow waters very close to shore over muddy and sandy bottoms. They are often found in sheltered bays, on shallow banks, and in estuaries or river mouths. Certain species of sawfish are known to ascend inland in large river systems, and they are among the few elasmobranchs that are known from freshwater systems in many parts of the world.
Population Trends
There are few reliable data available for this species, and no robust estimates of historic or current population size exist. However, available data indicate that the species' geographic range has been reduced by about 90%, and that the population numbers have declined dramatically, perhaps by 95% or more.
Threats
Sawfish are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation because of the ease with which they are entangled in fishing gear, their restricted habitat, and a low rate of population growth. The decline in smalltooth sawfish abundance has been caused primarily due to bycatch in various fisheries, especially in nets. Because adults can grow very large, and potentially damage fishing gear or even pose a threat to fishermen, many incidentally captured sawfish were killed before they were removed from fishing gear. The loss of habitat also likely contributed to the decline of this species. Important habitats such as mangrove forests have been modified or lost due to development of the waterfront throughout their range.

Encounter Reporting
Requirements

In your logbook, document as much information as possible including:

Date and time of encounter
Location (GPS coordinates)
Habitat (water depth, bottom type)
Estimated total length of sawfish including saw
Tooth counts on left and right side of saw (rostrum) if possible to obtain safely
Description of gear that could not safely be removed from the animal
Markings, scars, wounds
Tag number and type (shape and color) (tags are on or below the dorsal fins)
Photographs if possible
Details of capture (bait, hook size/type, mesh size, length of gear)
Sex of sawfish, if known (male sawfish, like sharks, have two claspers at the base of the anal fin)

More information and recovery documents can be found at
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/smalltoothsawfish.htm
For information on sawfish research visit Mote Marine
Laboratory’s Sawfish Research Page
http://www.mote.org/sawfish