Sawfish - Conservation

Conservation

All species of sawfish are considered critically endangered. They are accidentally caught as bycatch in fishing nets and are hunted for their rostrum (which is prized as a curiosity by some), their fins (which are eaten as a delicacy), and their liver oil for use in folk medicine.

While fins from many shark species are utilized in the trade, certain shark species have been identified over the centuries as supplying the tastiest and most succulent fins. The shark-like rays (the sawfishes and shovelnose rays) supply the highest quality fin. As observed by one of the leading treatises on shark trade, "The ... fins ... from the white-spotted guitarfish are considered to be most valuable. The preferred shark species for fins are tiger, mako, sawfish, sandbar, bull, hammerhead, blacktip, porbeagle, thresher and blue shark." The fins from the critically endangered sawfishes "are highly favored in Asian markets and are some of the most valuable shark fins." Sawfishes are now protected under the highest protection level of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Appendix I, but given the great volume of the shark fin trade, and that detached shark fins are difficult to identify, it is unlikely that CITES protection will prevent sawfish fins from entering the trade.

Capturing sawfish is illegal in the United States and in Australia. The sale of smalltooth sawfish rostra is also prohibited in the United States under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); the sale of other sawfish rostra remains legal. However, most rostra on the American market are from the smalltooth sawfish, partly because few laymen can differentiate the species from which the rostra originated.

Habitat destruction is another threat to sawfish.

While popular in public aquaria, sawfishes are difficult to maintain because of their size. They likely require a variety of habitats, including both seawater and freshwater to complete their life cycle. Consequently, captive breeding has resulted in very little success, so far limited to a single species (P. pectinata) at a single aquarium (Atlantis Paradise Island).

The international trade of sawfish was banned by the CITES convention in June 2007. At the 14th CITES Conference the Australian delegation proposed an annotation to all species from the family Pristidae to Appendix I. The annotation was supported by the required two-thirds majority, and allowed P. microdon to be treated as Appendix II “for the exclusive purpose of allowing international trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable aquaria for primarily conservation purposes.” The annotation was accepted on the basis that Australian populations of P. microdon are robust relative to other populations in the species' range; and that the capture of individuals for aquaria is likely to be detrimental to the population in any other country than Australia. All trade must be accompanied by an agreement between the exporter, importer and the Australian CITES Management Authority ensuring that the receiving aquarium has the capacity to house and care for the animal and that display is accompanied by comprehensive educational material. Since the implementation of the annotation, a sawfish research association has been established in northern Australia to facilitate accelerated research effort in P. microdon and other euryhaline elasmobranchs in rivers that drain to the Gulf of Carpentaria.