SAWFISH: The world’s most endangered marine fish

FAST FACTS: SOUTHEAST ASIA

Species:
  • Southeast Asia was once home to populations of four of the world’s five sawfish species: Narrow, Green, Dwarf and Largetooth

Status:
  • Sawfishes in Southeast Asia are characterised by steep population declines and localised extinctions
  • There have been no records of Dwarf Sawfish from Southeast Asia in over a century
  • Despite the presence of sawfish rostra in houses near fishing ports, local Indonesian fishermen say that they have not seen sawfishes for more than 20 or 30 years
  • In Sabah (Malaysian Borneo), fishers and villagers reported sawfishes as abundant in the 1970s and declining sharply in the 1980s, with very limited catches since that time
  • The last known record from the Kinabatangan River in Malaysian Borneo was in 1996
  •  Historic accounts indicate that sawfishes were formerly ‘common’ and caught in ‘considerable numbers’ in Thailand, including in rivers; they are now lost from Thai waters
  • Largetooth Sawfish used to occur in several major river systems of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia (including Borneo), Cambodia, Viet Nam and the Philippines
  • The ‘demise’ of the Largetooth Sawfish has been reported in Lake Sentani, New Guinea as a result of the change from traditional fishing methods to the use of gill nets
  • Sawfish were regularly seen as far upstream as Khoné Falls in the Cambodian Mekong system; in other areas of the Mekong (Tonlé Sap and Great Lake), none have been seen for ‘several decades’
  • Largetooth Sawfish were once considered common in the Philippines but none were recorded in more recent surveys

Biology:
  • All sawfishes are marine species, but Largetooth and Dwarf sawfish also spend part of their lives in rivers; juvenile Largetooth spend 4-5 years in the freshwater reaches of tropical rivers before migrating to coastal and marine environment
  • Rivers are an important nursery areas for Dwarf and particularly Largetooth Sawfish
  • Female Largetooth Sawfish return to sites previously used for reproduction to give birth
  • Despite its name, the Dwarf Sawfish reaches 3.2 m in length. While not tiny, it is the smallest sawfish
  • Green Sawfish can live for more than 50 years. In contrast, the Narrow Sawfish only lives to 9 years

Threats:
  • Southeast Asia is a region of intense human pressure, particularly through unregulated and unmanaged fisheries, and habitat loss and degradation in critical sawfish habitats
  • Physical modifications to rivers such as dams effect the upstream migration of Largetooth Sawfish
  • Threats persist and will continue to impact any remanent populations where they may occur

Amazing facts:
  • Sawfish fins are amongst the most preferred for shark fin soup in Asia; one set can sell for close to USD$4000
  • Sawfish liver has been processed into medicinal oils in China to treat a variety of ailments
  • Sawfish ova has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to combat diarrhoea
  • Sawfish bile has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a cure for scabies and ulcers
  • There is no evidence to support the perceived medicinal value of these sawfish products
  • Traditionally in areas along the Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, rostra are nailed over doorways to keep ghosts out of houses, and wrapped in cloth and hung over cradles to stop babies crying.
  • Sawfishes play an important role in the traditional account of the spread of Islam to Borneo. The first Muslim teacher to reach this island became known as “Sawfish-Rider” after he performed several miracles involving an immense sawfish to convince the local kingdom of the truth of his faith. 
  • Abundant sawfish art and myth occurs among cultures along the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea, confirming that this system was formerly a stronghold for juvenile Largetooth Sawfish

Opportunities:
  • There is hope that Papua New Guinea still holds viable sawfish populations, particularly of the Largetooth Sawfish
  • There are a handful of recent Green Sawfish records from Borneo (Malaysia), and surveys should be undertaken to determine the status of the species there
  • Several countries in Southeast Asia have been identified as priority countries, those that need urgent basic legal protection for sawfish populations: Myanmar, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea
  • In Southeast Asia, sawfish-specific protections exist only Indonesia and Malaysia; these laws need to be effectively enforced