Sawfish Recovery Put In Spotlight

The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to protect and recover listed species until the point they no longer need the protections afforded by the Act. After the smalltooth sawfish was listed as an Endangered species in 2003, NOAA Fisheries convened the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Team to develop a plan to recover the U.S. population. The team worked several years to build additional knowledge of the species and to identify the most severe threats to the population in the United States. These efforts were published in the 2009 Recovery Plan which recommends specific steps to recover the population, focusing on (1) educating the public to minimize human interactions with sawfish and any associated injury and mortality, (2) protecting and/or restoring important their habitats, and (3) ensuring the specie’s abundance and distribution increase.

After the plan was published, the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Implementation Team was created. Comprised of a number of partners from federal and state government, non-government organizations, universities, and the fishing industry, the team is working to implement the recovery plan by protecting the remaining population in the U.S. while rebuilding the population. To provide the public with information about ongoing sawfish management and research efforts and to foster support for this endangered species, the U.S. Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Implementation Team is excited to announce their new website and social media accounts.

Visit www.SawfishRecovery.org to meet the team members, provide details of your capture or sighting, and to learn about the biology of this species, the causes of the population decline, and the recommended species-specific releasing and viewing guidelines. Follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for regular updates on management, research, and outreach efforts.

Find the U.S. Sawfish Recovery Implementation Team: Web: www.SawfishRecovery.org

Facebook: U.S. Sawfish Recovery

Twitter: @SawfishRecovery

Instagram: u.s.sawfishrecovery

Phone: 1-844-4SAWFISH