Behind the Scenes of International Sawfish Day

Annmarie Fearing    

Katy Duke
Image credit: The Deep

   The Sawfish Conservation Society had the pleasure of interviewing Katy Duke, the Chief Executive Officer of The Deep aquarium in Hull, England. After working in the aquarium industry for over 22 years, she has become captivated by sawfish and has taken on the additional role of European studbook keeper for sawfish. As the studbook keeper, Duke is in charge of compiling and maintaining collective histories of captive sawfish in Europe for population management purposes. 

   She is currently working with other aquariums and researchers around the globe to further sawfish conservation. As someone who helped get International Sawfish Day (ISD) off the ground, we wanted to hear Duke’s thoughts on what ISD is all about.

    According to Duke, the initial idea for ISD came during the American Elasmobranch Society Sawfish Symposium in 2016. Duke, Paula Carlson (Dallas World Aquarium), Stacia White (Ripley’s Aquarium), Alan Henningsen (National Aquarium Baltimore) and Nick Dulvy (IUCN Shark Specialist Group Chair) were discussing how great it would be to have a day for everyone around the world to celebrate sawfish. “We realized there was enough enthusiasm at the symposium so we decided to go for it, and International Sawfish Day was born!”

 

Green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) swimming at The Deep.
Photo credit: The Deep

   With an international day, such as this, there is always a driving goal behind it. “Right now, the goal of ISD is to promote awareness of sawfish. We want to create a buzz  and educate the public on what sawfish are and why they are important,” says Duke. Sawfish are considered the most threatened of all sharks and rays, yet their plight is not well known by the public. Sawfish have suffered a large decline in both range and abundance from accidental captures in fisheries, exploitation for their fins and saws, and from loss and degradation of habitat. With a ‘tooth’-lined saw making up to one third of a sawfish’s body, “they aren’t the best shape for avoiding fishing gear,” says Duke. Often sawfish are killed or have their saws removed by fishers in attempts to untangle them from nets or fishing lines. Even if released alive, sawless sawfish are likely to slowly starve as their saw is used to find and capture prey. There has also been a large loss in coastal habitat, such as mangroves, which are used as nurseries by juvenile sawfish. “You can talk about so many different conservation issues surrounding sawfish, which has led to them being in the position that they are in today. While many species have suffered similar plights, sawfish are a great flagship species for the conservation of marine life,” comments Duke.

   Duke and the other organizers hope to further develop ISD and add on additional elements, such as fundraising, to support sawfish conservation in future years. She also noted that ISD is helping to bring together the people working on sawfish in all different disciplines and from various countries. “ISD will be celebrated all over the world and is as relevant in Australia as it is in the US, Africa, South America and Europe,” states Duke. She also commented on how everyone has a part to play in sawfish conservation and how ISD is a great way to unite everyone behind this common goal.

Children in awe of a green sawfish.
Photo credit: The Deep

   For those of you looking to participate in ISD this year, Duke had some suggestions on how you can get involved. A great way to reach a large audience is by sharing things about sawfish on your social media. The Deep aquarium is starting a Thunderclap, which will tweet out a united message about ISD and sawfish on each person’s Twitter that joins the Thunderclap. To join in on the Thunderclap, you can follow this link here: http://thndr.me/NIlkft. You can also follow the Sawfish Conservation Society on Twitter @sawfishconserv and Facebook, to stay informed on any events happening during ISD. Some other fun ideas are listed below:

Draw or create a sawfish and share your picture online.

Visit an aquarium or venue with activities going on for ISD (follow this link for a list of activities: http://www.sawfishconservationsociety.org/ISD4.html).

Take some interesting sawfish facts into school or your work place. You can learn all about sawfish and play sawfish games at www.sawfishconservationsociety.org

Bake sawfish shaped cookies and give them to your friends. Dress up as a sawfish!

Spark up as many conversations as you can about sawfish and why you think they are important.

If you see a sawfish saw somewhere, let researchers at The University of Southern Mississippi, Louisiana State University and the Sawfish Conservation Society know by emailing sawfishconservationsociety@gmail.com.

    Duke says the most important thing on ISD is to have fun, and if you have a genuine passion you can take that into your everyday life and be an ambassador for sawfish! 

En Busca del Pez Sierra en Costa Rica

Mario Espinoza y Jorge Valerio
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología & Escuela de Biología,
Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica

Nuestro proyecto “En Busca del Pez Sierra en Costa Rica” inició a finales de 2015 como una iniciativa de la Universidad de Costa Rica, en conjunto con Conservación Internacional y Misión Tiburón, dos Organizaciones No Gubernamentales. Este proyecto pretende impulsar una estrategia para la conservación del Pez Sierra en Costa Rica, y eventualmente extenderse a otros países de Centro América. Debido a que las poblaciones de Pez Sierra de Centro América han sufrido grandes reducciones producto de la sobrepesca y destrucción de los hábitats, resulta crucial identificar sitios en Costa Rica donde aún se encuentre esta especie. También es importante determinar las principales amenazas que afectan su sobrevivencia. Solo así se podrán desarrollar mejores medidas de manejo y conservación que permitan asegurar el futuro de esta especie tan amenazada.

Esta estrategia de conservación tan importante tiene dos objetivos principales: (1) evaluar la situación actual del Pez Sierra en Costa Rica; y (2) educar y concientizar a la población costarricense acerca de la importancia de proteger al Pez Sierra, principalmente a través de charlas, talleres y el uso de redes sociales.  El éxito de este proyecto depende de que diversos sectores de la población conozcan más a fondo a esta especie, su importancia ecológica, amenazas, y estado de conservación. Solo así se podrá asegurar la viabilidad de la especie a largo plazo.

Captura reciente de Pez Sierra (Pristis pristis) en Boca Tapada de San Carlos, Zona Norte de Costa Rica (marzo 2016).

Divulgación del proyecto a niñas y niños de centros educativos.

El proyecto también está generando información ecológica muy importante que permitirá evaluar la situación actual del Pez Sierra en el país. Por ejemplo, mediante el apoyo de Rufford Foundation hemos realizado un gran número de entrevistas a pescadores y miembros de comunidades costeras y rivereñas, lo cual nos ha dado una muy buena idea de la distribución histórica y reciente del Pez Sierra para Costa Rica. Estos esfuerzos se han enfocado en zonas costeras del Pacífico Norte (Cuajiniquil y Puerto Soley), Pacífico Central (Puntarenas, Golfo de Nicoya, Tárcoles), Pacífico Sur (Humedal Nacional Térreba Sierpe) y varios de los ríos de la Zona Norte (Boca San Carlos y Boca Tapada), cerca de la frontera con Nicaragua.  La gran ayuda de la gente durante el proceso de entrevistas ha sido invaluable para el éxito del proyecto.  El Pez Sierra, al ser un animal casi mítico, genera mucha curiosidad e interés en la gente.  A los más viejos, las entrevistas les trae gratos recuerdos de aquellos tiempos en los que tuvieron la suerte de ver o capturar un pez de tan extraña apariencia.  Es gracias a esa ayuda que hemos logrado recopilar información muy valiosa acerca de la distribución del Pez Sierra y las principales amenazas que afectan su sobrevivencia, particularmente en sitios cientos de kilómetros tierra adentro en la zona norte del país.

Las entrevistas realizadas hasta ahora demuestran que las principales amenazas del Pez Sierra en Costa Rica han sido y continúan siendo la pesca con trasmallos, la destrucción de los ecosistemas costeros y ribereños, y el cambio climático que ha afectado los caudales de los ríos.  La distribución histórica del Pez Sierra fue mucho más amplia de lo que esperábamos, siendo una especie muy común en muchos ecosistemas costeros y ribereños en ambas costas y zona norte de Costa Rica, mientras que su distribución actual parece que se ha reducido a unos pocos sitios del país.  Los pocos registros recientes de la especie (<2 años) se concentran en la vertiente norte (límite con Nicaragua) y en el Humedal Nacional Térraba Sierpe en el Pacífico sur; información necesaria para iniciar la fase de expediciones de campo.  Las entrevistas también nos han ayudado a evaluar la percepción de la gente hacia esta especie tan importante, así como identificar las posibles amenazas que afectan o han afectado históricamente la salud de sus poblaciones.

En 2017 comenzaremos la búsqueda del Pez Sierra en sitios que hemos identificado, a través de entrevistas y observaciones, como sitios importantes para la especie.  Tanto IDEAWILD y Rufford Foundation han colaborado con equipo y algunos fondos que nos permitirán realizar algunas expediciones.  Además, queremos aplicar otras técnicas más novedosas, como el uso de ADN-ambiental, una técnica capaz de detectar rastros de esta especie en muestras de agua tomadas del ecosistema. 

El Pez Sierra aún se encuentra en Costa Rica, pero su futuro es incierto. ¡Ayúdenos a salvar al Pez Sierra, seamos todos parte de esta gran iniciativa!

Puedes leer una versión en inglés de esta blog post aquí: 

http://sawfishconservationsociety.blogspot.ie/2017/01/looking-for-sawfish-in-costa-rica.html

Looking for Sawfish in Costa Rica

By Mario Espinoza & Jorge Valerio

Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology & Biology School, Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica.

Our project “Looking for Sawfish in Costa Rica” started late 2015, as an initiative of the Universidad de Costa Rica, in collaboration with Conservation International and “Misión Tiburón”, two local Non-Governmental Organizations. The project aims to promote a National Sawfish Conservation Strategy, which could eventually expand to other countries in Central America.  Given global declines of Sawfish populations due to overfishing and habitat degradation and/or loss, its crucial to identify sites in Costa Rica that may still hold a viable population.  It is also crucial to identify the main threats affecting their survival.  This will be essential to develop effective management and conservation strategies that may ensure the future of Sawfish.
 
This important conservation strategy has two main goals: (1) evaluate the current conservation status of Sawfish in Costa Rica; (2) educate and raise awareness to Costa Ricans about the importance of protecting Sawfish, mainly through talks, workshops, and the use of social media.  The success of this project will depend on the degree of awareness of Costa Ricans towards Sawfish, the ecological role this species play in aquatic ecosystems, major threats affecting their survival, and their conservation status.  Only then we may ensure a brighter future for the species.

Project outreach is being conducted in primary and secondary schools.

The information gathered through the interviews done so far demonstrate that in Costa Rica the Sawfish main threats continue to be fishing nets, habitat destruction, and climate change which has affected river discharges and water temperature. Its historical distribution was much broader than what we expected, being a very common species in many riverine and coastal ecosystems in both shores and in the north part of the country, while its current distribution appears to be more restricted to only a few sites. Recent sightings (<2 years) of Sawfish are concentrated at two main sites: (1) the north of Costa Rica, near the Nicaraguan border; and (2) the “Humedal Nacional Térraba Sierpe”, one of the most important wetland of Central America, located in the South Pacific.  Information on the distribution of this species is necessary to continue with the next phase of the project, which includes field expeditions. Interviews have also served to evaluate people’s perception of this important species and to identify the main threats that affect the health of their populations. 

Recent Sawfish (Pristis pristis) capture in Boca Tapada, San Carlos, northern part of Costa Rica (March 2016).

In 2017, we will start the search for Sawfish in sites previously identified from local interviews as hotspots for the species. This will be possible thanks to the support of IDEA WILD and the Rufford Foundation, as well as our local partners (Conservación Internacional and Misión Tiburón). Besides the ecological surveys, we are also planning to use environmental DNA (e-DNA), a novel technique capable of detecting DNA traces from water samples taken from the environment.

Sawfish are still present in Costa Rica, but their future is uncertain. Help us save our Sawfish! Together we can make a difference!

A Spanish version of this blog post is available at: http://sawfishconservationsociety.blogspot.ie/2017/01/en-busca-del-pez-sierra-en-costa-rica.html