Small Tooth Sawfish

Protecting The Smalltooth Sawfish  

                                                                  Smalltooth Sawfish

Section 1:

The smalltooth sawfish was once a thriving species residing primarily in the Atlantic Ocean, now may be extinct, or critically endangered at best according to the IUCN Red List. I chose to write about the smalltooth sawfish because I have a fascination, or passion you could say, for marine life and this is one of the most bizarre looking marine fish I've ever personally seen... at an aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC. The species is classified as critically endangered, possibly extinct; it was last seen in the wild in 1997. According to the NOAA these fish are a grayish color on top and white underneath, and when the sawfish is born they are around two feet long but can reach lengths of eleven feet. They have a long slender, shark-like body with three exceptions.

The bottom of the fish is flat similar to a ray, its eyes set more toward the top of the head, and well theres a long saw-like bill that protrudes from the snout commonly referred to as their "rostra". They use their rostra to find and stun prey. The rostra contains electro-sensitive organs helping the sawfish find small amount of electricity produced by their prey, they also use it as a weapon to stun fish by swimming into a school and thrashing the rostra around impaling and stunning small fish (Smalltooth Sawfish Build Image). The smalltooth sawfish is a member of a group known as elasmobranchs, other species within this group are sharks, rays, and skates.

Section 2:

According to the IUCN Red List today the species' biome is believed to be the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic, but it is uncertain if they truly reside in the Mediterranean due to species misidentification. The sawfish's habitat types are “Wetlands (inland)” and “marine neritic”. The smalltooth sawfish relies mainly on red mangroves for cover when giving birth as well as for keeping their pups sheltered from predators (Red Mangrove Image). According to the NOAA the smalltooth sawfish gives birth to seven to fourteen pups per litter and if  not for

 the mangrove they are easy prey for the top predators in the region which are both large and small sharks such as the great white and black tip sharks (Habitat Map Image). They are born with their rostra fully developed or at least it appears to be, the rostra is actually rather flexible after birth and provides little defense (don't worry the rostra is encapsulated within a gelatinous sack during birth aiding the mother's health). Today the red mangrove is another species that has greatly reduced in population which could be contributing to the loss of the smalltooth sawfish as there is little shelter left for pups in their habitat according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The only region within the sawfish's habitat where the red mangrove can still be found is off the coast of Florida and parts of the Caribbean. 

Coastal Habitat Example

Section 3:

Major threats to the species are: 

• Tourism/Recreation
• Oil & Gas Drilling
• Fishing and Harvesting
• Habitat Loss

Here we will focus on the fishing and harvesting threats. These fish are, or were caught and used for food, medicine, and apparel according to the IUCN Red List. I chose this threat because I often go fishing, although I rarely fish for marine life the effects are something that interests me, and I would like to enlighten us all of the pros and cons of fishing relative to the environment.  Similar to the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the open ocean biome, today the sawfish was once an easy catch for trophy fisherman (Trophy Fishing Image), they were also often accidentally caught in commercial fishing nets due to their rostra getting caught resulting in overfishing. Yes the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is being overfished as well, and the population is severely decreasing as we speak. This was once the case for the smalltooth sawfish who as far as we know could have been fished to extinction by now according to the IUCN Red List. The biggest contributor to the overfishing of the sawfish was being tangled in fishing nets. Today marine life is harvested in dangerously large portions to feed the seemingly constantly growing human population. Fishing for such a large quantity and variety of marine life often results in many unintended catches of low population marine species such as sea turtles and in this case smalltooth sawfish. As you have already learned the sawfish has a long "saw" protruding from its face known as its rostra. This rostra is used for hunting, to detect and stun prey so if a sawfish happens upon a fishing net filled with fish it will swim into the net and thrash its rostra around in an effort to stun its prey. In the process the rostra gets tangled in the net and the sawfish is trapped often resulting in death via the fishermen. According to the NOAA smalltooth sawfish pose a threat to fishermen's equipment so if caught the sawfish were often killed. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in the past smalltooth sawfish were widely viewed as a "trophy fish" because of their rostra. A trophy fish is a fish that is sought after by individual fishermen who want to catch the animal simply to show off that they were able to land it on shore or a boat. Some of these fishermen practice catch and release but others keep the greater to have it stuffed. Between these two forms of fishing the smalltooth sawfish species has lost many. 

Section 4:

Unfortunately I found no evidence of conservation efforts for this species through the IUCN Red List which would explain why they haven't been seen since 1997. For any conservation efforts to work we must first know that the fish still exists in the wild. If they are in fact still critically endangered then the most obvious conservation effort would be to ban all sawfish fishing efforts. The next step would be to rebuild the

 sawfish's habitat which according to the NOAA is primarily where freshwater rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean in a shallow, brackish water setting. Some brackish fish (like the salmon) can survive in both fresh and saltwater habitats. This seems to be the case for the smalltooth sawfish as well. There's no evidence that they traveled far upstream from the ocean but there is evidence that they were once discovered in North American rivers along the coast. Therefore the next step to conservation would be to further regulate freshwater pollutants, especially along the coast. Although Keene New Hampshire is to far north to provide a home for the smalltooth sawfish, freshwater pollutant regulations could still potentially aide the effort since many of our rivers flow into larger rivers that enter the ocean near the smalltooth sawfish's habitat. Finally we would have to find a way to expand the habitat of the red mangrove so that it can survive in areas where it once thrived, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this would provide female sawfish with a safe place to give birth to their pups and increase their chances of survival (Dead Red Mangrove Image).