Large sawfish found tangled in fishing line off Fort Lauderdale

An endangered 16-foot smalltooth sawfish was discovered dead, tangled in fishing line, off Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, the first day of lobster mini-season.

Divers on the American Dream II, which operates out of the Hyatt Regency Pier 66, were swimming in 75 feet of water when they saw the sawfish lying on the sandy bottom near a coral reef. They approached cautiously, thinking it might be alive, but saw it was wrapped in 1,000-pound fishing line, said diver Greg Mooney.

"It was so sad to see an animal so rare in these waters dead, and dead from some pretty extreme fishing," he said.

The sawfish uses its serrated bill to slash up schools of fish. Once ranging as far north as New York City and as far west as Texas, the species has been reduced to a stronghold on the southwest coast of Florida and southern fringes of Everglades National Park. Sightings off Fort Lauderdale are rare.

Capt. Todd Rogers, the boat's owner and operator, reported the discovery to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which contacted the National Marine Fisheries Service. Because only about a dozen adult sawfish have been recovered intact over the past 10 years, scientists were eager to get this one.

But because the sawfish is an endangered species, Rogers would have needed a special federal waiver to legally handle it, even though it was dead. This could not be immediately obtained because the right federal officials could not be contacted in time, so they left the sawfish where they found it. Going back later to take pictures, they found it had already been partially eaten by other marine creatures.

"It's too bad," Rogers said. "I would like to retrieve it and let them use it for scientific reasons."

Philip Stevens, research administrator for the fish commission, said the sawfish's decline took place over the past 100 years. They died as accidental catch in commercial fishing gear such as gill nets, longlines and shrimp trawls, where their serrated bill becomes a liability.

"If it gets anywhere near a net, it gets tangled up," Stevens said.

They also lost coastal nursery habitat to real estate development. And many died to serve the souvenir trade demand for their bizarre serrated bills. The sawfish went on the endangered species list in 2003. A federal recovery plan adopted in 2009 calls for reducing the impact of fishing, protecting habitat and engaging in public education.

Although they resemble sharks, sawfish are a species of ray. They have a skeleton of cartilage, rather than bone. They have their gill slits on the bottom of their bodies. They give birth to live young, generally around river mouths.

No one knows how long they live, but estimates range up to 30 years. Although they can grow to up to 18 feet, they are not known to attack people.

 

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