Sawfish
Scientific name
Pristis spp.
Other names
None
Fishing methods
Recreational angling and as bycatch in inshore bottom trawl and gillnets.
Area of capture
South Africa
SASSI Colour
Red (No Sale Species)
Summary
The sawfish is a specially protected species and is on the IUCN endangered list. It is a threatened species worldwide due to habitat degradation and overfishing. Slow growth and reproduction also makes it very vulnerable. Two main species which inhabit South African waters are the largetooth sawfish (P. microdon) and green sawfish (P. zijsron). This species of fish can potentially gorw to very large sizes, but is a very slowgrowing species and usually occurs at very low numbers. The sawfish can be found in warm, temperate and tropical, shallow coastal waters over a sandy or muddy bottom as well as estuaries.
The sawfish is a Red-listed no-sale species, this means that it is illegal to sell or buy these species anywhere in South Africa. This species is specifically reserved for recreational fishers and may only be caught by fishers in possession of a recreational permit. These fishers must also abide by the recreational permit conditions which include daily bag limits and minimum size limits. Recreational fishers are not allowed to sell their catch as this would result in an unsustainable amount of effort being used in the fishery and undermines the livelihoods of legitimate commercial fishermen who rely on the resource for their income.
For more information, email us at sassi@wwf.org.za. Thanks to the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) for the photo.
What can YOU do?
It is illegal to buy or sell sawfish! Rather choose a green-listed species.