The Peace and Caloosahatchee rivers contain some of the nation's most important nursery habitats for the endangered smalltooth sawfish.
The strange-looking fish, with the hedge trimmer-like "saw" extending from their heads, rely on that ever-changing mixing zone in the tidally affected rivers where saltwater and freshwater ratios are just right.
Most often, those places are in very shallow water along red mangroves, flats, creeks and canals.
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Sawfish are one of the most threatened groups of marine fishes. Since 1992, sawfish have been protected in Florida and are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species lists the green, smalltooth and largetooth sawfish as critically endangered, and the dwarf and narrow sawfish as endangered.
Sawfish, members of the stingray family, were once a common sight off Florida's coastline, but they have been unintentionally overfished. Their long saws, called "rostrums" or "rostra," get tangled easily in fishing line – and have become popular trophies.
Sawfish also produce few young, so every time one is killed their numbers struggle to recover.
Sawfish were once a common sight off Florida's coastline, but they have been unintentionally overfished
Very little is known about sawfish. Scientists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute have started a research effort to learn more.
They are asking for the public's help.
"If you catch a sawfish while fishing for other species or happen to see one while you are near the water, please contact us," the marine researchers wrote on their save the sawtooth website. "This statewide survey provides a means for anglers, boaters and beachgoers to help biologists learn more about the areas in which sawfish are sighted."
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There are five species: the smalltooth sawfish, found in the Atlantic; the green sawfish; narrow or knifetooth sawfish; dwarf sawfish, found in the Indian and western Pacific; and the largetooth or freshwater sawfish found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific.
To file a report of a sawfish sighting, send an email here or call 800-4SAWFISH (472-9347).
The scientists ask that people include the date and time of the encounter, the sawfish's estimated length, the water's depth, and any other relevant or interesting details.
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