Summary'of'sawfish'work'taking'place'in'Mexico,'Central'and'South'America.'!

Ruth!H.!Leeney!

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Two!sawfish!species!–!the!smalltooth!and!largetooth!sawfishes!(Pristis&pectinata!and!P.&pristis)!–!are!known!to!have!occurred!historically!in!Caribbean!and!Central!American!(Atlantic)!coastal!seas,!whilst!

only!the!largetooth!sawfish!is!known!from!the!eastern!Pacific.!The!current!status!of!sawfishes!in!the!

waters!of!Mexico,!Central!America!and!the!west!coast!of!South!America!is!poorly!understood.!Until!

recently,!little!upHtoHdate!information!was!available!from!these!regions!but!happily,!since!2014,!

numerous!research!projects!have!developed!to!address!these!data!gaps.!Many!of!these!projects!are!

multiHcountry!collaborative!efforts,!which!facilitates!the!sharing!of!resources!and!expertise.!What!

follows!is!a!summary!of!the!projects!that!have!shared!information!on!their!research!and!

conservation!activities!with!the!SSG,!but!if!you!are!working!on!sawfishes!in!Mesoamerica!or!South!

America!and!don’t!see!your!project!mentioned!here,!please!do!get!in!touch!!

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In!Mexico,!Océanos!Vivientes!AC!is!conducting!a!nationwide!survey!of!historical!and!current!

presence!of!sawfishes,!in!order!to!evaluate!the!conservation!status!of!sawfishes!in!Mexico.!The!team!

hopes!to!work!towards!a!change!in!Mexican!legislation!relating!to!sawfishes.!Océanos!Vivientes!is!

also!collaborating!with!Conservation!International!to!develop!sawfish!research!in!Colombia.!

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MarAlliance!is!working!in!Belize,!Cuba,!Guatemala,!Honduras!and!on!the!Caribbean!coast!of!Mexico.!

Their!work!on!sawfishes!is!part!of!a!broader!programme!which!involves!working!closely!with!fishing!

communities!to!monitor!marine!megafauna,!especially!elasmobranchs.!They!hope!to!assess!the!

current!existence!of!sawfishes!in!each!of!their!study!regions,!document!historical!occurrence,!

distribution!and!local!uses!of!sawfishes,!and!identify!strategies!to!encourage!the!recovery!of!any!

remaining!sawfish!populations.!!

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In!Peru,!Planeta!Océano!launched!a!sawfish!research!programme!in!early!2015,!involving!a!training!

programme!which!was!run!in!collaboration!with!Protect!Africa’s!Sawfishes.!Following!the!training,!

course!participants!and!Planeta!Océano!staff!conducted!interviews!at!numerous!fishing!ports!and!

landings!sites!in!northern!Peru,!and!interviews!will!be!conducted!further!south,!later!this!year.!Very!

recent!captures!of!largetooth!sawfish!have!occurred!in!northern!Peru,!including!one!adult!caught!

and!released!alive!in!February!2015.!Planeta!Océano!has!also!built!collaborative!links!with!teams!in!

Ecuador,!El!Salvador!and!Costa!Rica,!supporting!them!to!collect!data!on!sawfishes!using!similar!

methods,!and!developing!community!awareness!activities!and!educational!materials!on!sawfishes,!

to!be!used!throughout!the!region.!Planeta!Océanos’!collaborators!at!the!Universidad!Laica!Eloy!

Alfaro!de!Manabí!(Ecuador),!led!by!Dr.!Rigoberto!RosasHLuis,!have!already!conducted!429!interviews!

with!fishermen!throughout!Ecuador.!The!most!recent!capture!of!a!sawfish!there!was!in!2014,!in!San!

Lorenzo,!northern!Ecuador.!!

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Fundación!Talking!Oceans!and!the!Smithsonian!Institution!is!conducting!sawfish!research!in!Costa!

Rica,!Panama,!Colombia!and!Ecuador.!They!aim!to!assess!the!current!distribution!and!conservation!

status!of!sawfishes!in!the!ETP,!as!part!of!a!wider!project!to!identify!and!map!elasmobranch!critical!

habitats!and!assess!MPA!effectiveness.!Fundación!Talking!Oceans!are!working!with!a!number!of!

collaborators!including!Marviva,!WWF,!USAIDHBIOREDD,!Universidad!de!Costa!Rica,!Playa!Tortuga,!

Malangwai,!SINAC,!PRETOMA,!Universidad!de!Panama,!ARAP,!Planeta!Océano!and!NAZCA.!!

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Central!and!South!America!are!also!key!regions!for!sawfish!conservation!for!one!particular!reason!–!

the!cockHfighting!industry.!CockHfighting!is!a!very!popular!pastime!in!many!Central!and!South!

American!countries,!and!since!the!midH1970s,!sawfish!rostral!teeth!have!been!the!preferred!source!

of!‘spurs’!–!the!sharp!spikes!which!owners!attach!to!the!feet!of!their!bird!in!order!to!inflict!damage!

on!the!opponent.!Concern!has!grown!within!the!cockHfighting!industry!as!sawfish!rostra!have!

become!more!difficult!to!obtain!and!the!price!of!rostral!teeth!has!increased!significantly.!However,!

some!cockHfighting!associations!are!now!working!to!ban!the!use!of!spurs!made!from!rostral!material!

and!to!encourage!the!use!of!artificial!spurs.!In!Peru,!Planeta!Océano!is!conducting!interviews!with!

members!of!these!association,!in!order!to!assess!the!frequency!with!which!sawfish!teeth!are!still!

used!as!spurs!and!to!better!understand!how!cockHfighting!associations!can!encourage!their!members!

to!use!alternative!materials.!There!may!be!the!potential!to!develop!outreach!materials!that!can!be!

used!throughout!the!Americas!in!countries!where!cockHfighting!is!popular,!in!order!to!minimise!any!

further!threat!to!sawfishes!via!the!demand!for!rostral!teeth.!!

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The!collaborative!nature!of!sawfish!research!in!this!region!is!a!wonderful!example!of!how,!through!

communication!and!sharing!of!resources,!numerous!small!research!projects!can!result!in!effective!

data!collection!and!better!geographic!cover.!This!collaborative!approach!is!also!creating!links!

between!NGOs,!researchers!and!government!organisations!which!will!enable!a!smoother!transition!

to!the!next,!equally!important!phase!of!this!work:!developing!a!regional!conservation!strategy!for!

sawfishes,!in!line!with!the!IUCN’s!Global!Sawfish!Conservation!Strategy!(Harrison!&!Dulvy!2014).!

Exciting!times!for!sawfish!research!and!conservation!in!the!Americas!!

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Fig.!1:!A!largetooth!sawfish!(c.!5.6!m!total!length)!captured!off!northern!Peru,!and!released!alive,!in!

February!2015.!Photo!credit:!Alejandra!Mendoza!/!ecOceanica!

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Fig.!2:!Participants!of!the!Planeta!Oceano!training!course,!interviewing!a!fisherman!about!sawfish!at!

Zorritos,!northern!Peru.!Photograph!by!Ruth!H.!Leeney.!

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Fig.!3:!Sawfish!teeth!have!traditionally!been!used!to!make!spurs!for!cockHfighting.!Some!cockHfighting!

associations!are!now!encouraging!their!members!to!use!spurs!made!from!strong!plastic!composites,!

like!the!ones!shown!here.!Photograph!by!Ruth!H.!Leeney.!!

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Fig.!4:!Juliana!Lopez!Angarita!and!a!fisherman!with!a!sawfish!rostrum!from!a!market!in!Costa!Rica.!

Photograph!by!Alex!Tilley.!!

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