Researching Sawfish in the Rivers of Western Australia: An Interview with Dr. David Morgan

Dr. David Morgan is a researcher for the Harry Butler Institute at Murdoch University located in Perth, Western Australia (WA).  David runs Murdoch’s Freshwater Fish Group, which monitors river systems in WA and upholds the most comprehensive database of freshwater fishes in Western Australia. Team Sawfish is another aspect of the Freshwater Fish Group and is also lead by David. Team Sawfish has been working to monitor sawfish in WA for 18 years. To learn more about the Freshwater Fish Group and Team Sawfish you can visit their website (http://www.freshwaterfishgroup.com/team-sawfish.php) and read our blog to learn more about David and his work in Western Australia.

      1. How/when did you first become interested in sawfish?

     I was interested in fish from a very young age. But as a fish biologist, I gravitated to all of Western Australia’s unusual fishes in freshwaters, and began researching mainly those threatened. It was not until 2001 when I started working on the distribution of all fishes in the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia that they really began to interest me. I heard lots of stories about Freshwater Sawfish from traditional owners and recreational fishers when I first arrived up there, which fed my interest. They are such an iconic species, and at that time I had no idea that they were as threatened as they were (globally). 

Tagging a Freshwater Sawfish in the Fitzroy River in 2011.

2.  Do you remember the first time you encountered a sawfish in the wild? Can you tell us about that experience?  

     The first time I encountered a sawfish was in Fitzroy Crossing that was caught by Mary Aitken and Patsy Bedford during fish surveys at Geikie Gorge on the Fitzroy River. The first one I caught was a surreal experience, I caught both a Dwarf Sawfish and a Freshwater Sawfish in a net within minutes of setting it, along with a Bull Shark at Telegraph Pool in 2001. Since that time, we have caught or tagged over 1000 sawfish, each time it is memorable.
  

3. What is the current attitude of people in Western Australia towards sawfish? Do you think your work in this area has altered the public’s view of sawfish?

     The majority of people in Western Australia, particularly in northern WA are aware of what sawfish are, and most are in awe of them. I think the issue might be that they see so many sawfish, that they find it hard to fathom that most are Critically Endangered.

     There was historically many sawfish killed for their saw, however this still occurs by a minority. There is no doubt that public awareness has increased as a result of our work in the Kimberley and Pilbara (and perhaps in other states and countries), and people are aware that WA is a critical refuge for four species.  

4. For readers who are not from Western Australia, or not familiar with the area, can you explain some of the problems that sawfish are facing in WA and if there have been any changes to these threats recently?  

     Western Australia covers about one-third of the Australian continent, has over 13,000 km of coastline and is home to only 2.5 million people; 1.7 million of who live in the capital city Perth. Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world; the nearest city is Adelaide, which is over 2,600 km to the east. 

     The north of the State (Pilbara and Kimberley), where the four species of sawfish live, is populated by less than 100,000 people, so human impacts have historically been low. Most of the mangroves and river mouths are intact. The historical main threat was commercial fishing, yet in recent times, the Pilbara in particular is becoming increasingly developed, with ports being built and increased population growth related to mining and salt export facilities. River regulation has had a major impact to Freshwater Sawfish in the Ord River. 

5.  Can you tell us about your favorite or most interesting sawfish field story? 

     It’s hard to pick a favorite, so I might mention a few. Catching and tagging sawfish with my kids is always memorable, as are the moments that a huge saltwater crocodile presents itself. I think the first time that Jeff Whitty joined our group in 2007, we pulled up to an estuarine site on the Fitzroy River (after driving 2,500 km from Perth) and with the Yiriman Rangers, we caught over 30 Freshwater Sawfish pups in just a few hours, all with hand lines. I think Jeff thought, this stuff is easy. The Fitzroy River is such an amazing river, and all field trips involve camping out for extended periods. Camping out amongst the tranquility of Geikie Gorge, an ancient Devonian reef, is hard to beat.

This is one of my favorite photos from a sawfish trip – my son Charlie with Cani Watson and a Freshwater Crocodile in the Fitzroy River.

6. Can you talk a little about the traditional owners and rangers you work with and their importance to your research? 

     I started working with the traditional owners on the very first field trip to the Fitzroy River, and I have maintained that collaboration for 19 years now. It is very rewarding and I have many great friends in the Kimberley as a result. It started in 2001 where we collated all the fish names in 5 languages (Bununba, Gooniyandi, Ngarinyin, Nyikina and Walmajarri) with the help of the Kimberley Land Council and the Kimberley Language Research Centre, who at the time were also making dictionaries for the different languages. The Kimberley is a hotspot of Aboriginal languages and the Fitzroy River is central to many cultural aspects and an important place for hunting and fishing. In 2005 I started working with the Yiriman Rangers (who are now the Nyikina-Mangala Rangers) and we became known as Team Sawfish.

Team Sawfish at Geikie Gorge (Photo: P. Billan)

7. Do you have any updates on ongoing sawfish projects/outreach that you can tell us about or do you have any new projects that you are working on?

     We are at the stage where we are collating 18 years of catch data for the Freshwater Sawfish in the Fitzroy River; with some pretty surprising results. We are also planning to revisit our work on the Green Sawfish in the Pilbara, and I think the Dwarf Sawfish research in the Kimberley needs attention. As with anyone researching sawfish, funding is pretty hard to get, our 18 years of sawfish research has been funded by many different organizations. 

     With the realization that north-western Western Australia is a globally significant hotspot for at least three species, that is undergoing human and industrial expansion, now is the time to support the conservation of sawfish in the area.

     In terms of outreach, we recently published a book on the fishes of the Kimberley, which includes a chapter on sawfishes. We visit schools and community groups to talk about sawfish and other things fishy, and we will continue to work with Aboriginal Rangers in Team Sawfish. We also assisted with creating a number of signs  (see below) around the Fitzroy River. Outreach into the Pilbara region is urgently required, as much of the human population is a transient fly-in fly-out workforce, many from the eastern states, who encounter sawfish while fishing, and are not familiar with their conservation status.