Sawfishes have a significance in many traditional cultures around the world. In West Africa, they are a symbol of strength and protection; in some places, their rostra are displayed on the roofs of houses or in front of cattle pens to ward off evil spirits. But aside from what the fishers in Mahajamba Bay told me, I heard little to suggest that sawfishes have a special significance in Madagascar. Rather, some fishermen spoke of the guitarfish as a benevolent spirit and recounted a traditional story in which fishermen whose boat had capsized were saved by a giant guitarfish, which lifted them onto its back and carried them to the shore. Because of this story, it was strictly taboo to catch guitarfishes in many Malagasy fishing communities. And now? Unfortunately times have changed, an older fisher explained, and there are those who are willing to ignore their traditional beliefs because they know that the fins of just one guitarfish can fetch a significant sale price. The fins of sawfishes are almost as valuable, as most fishermen in Madagascar are only too well aware.

Sawfishes were formerly found in coastal waters throughout the tropics and subtropics, but populations globally have declined dramatically in recent decades and in many countries where sawfishes were formerly abundant they are now locally extinct. This precipitous decline probably results from a combination of multiple factors: their vulnerability to being caught accidentally in fishing nets and lines, as well as their targeted capture for the shark-fin industry; the destruction and degradation of their coastal and estuarine habitats; and their low reproductive rate. While it is too late for many sawfish populations, there is some hope that immediate action may prevent others from succumbing to the same fate.

Further into Mahajamba Bay, the phosphorescence had gone and quiet darkness enveloped us as we began to set the net, careful not to entangle our toes in the mesh as, hand over hand, it slipped into the blackness alongside. Such enchanted moments are fleeting; the reality of life in these far-flung corners of rural Madagascar is far from magical. There is limited or no access to schools or health care, and opportunities to improve daily life are few. In many cases, dwindling fish stocks mean that families struggle just to get enough to eat. Communities along Madagascar’s coasts and rivers are largely dependent on anything they can catch as a means of survival.

Sawfishes: where they are – or were

Since 2012, I have conducted research to learn more about sawfish populations in eight countries in Africa, Asia and South America. The main aims of such a wide-reaching undertaking were to better understand in which areas future research and management efforts should focus and to document where sawfishes may already be extinct. With this knowledge, it will be possible to make a much smarter allocation of limited financial resources, to the areas where they are most needed. Here are some of the key findings from this work:

• Liberia My study in Liberia focused on only one small section of the coastline, Lake Piso, where anecdotal reports had suggested that sawfishes may be present. However, many of the fishers I interviewed had never encountered one, indicating that sawfishes are not common there, at least in recent years.
• Guinea-Bissau Sawfish imagery features in the traditional ceremonies of the people of the Bijagos Archipelago, off the coast of Guinea-Bissau. Until recently, this region was thought to be the last stronghold for sawfishes in West Africa. However, interviews both on the mainland and in the archipelago revealed that there have been few recent catches of sawfishes, suggesting they are now rare. Fishing pressure, from industrial vessels operating illegally in coastal waters and from the vast numbers of migratory artisanal fishers who travel the length of West Africa’s coast searching for new fishing grounds to exploit, may have contributed to the decline of sawfishes.
• The Gambia Recently unearthed research from the 1970s documented the importance of the Gambia River as a habitat for juvenile largetooth sawfishes. Forty years later, I interviewed fishermen along the river and coast and found little evidence to suggest that sawfishes are still encountered. This population now appears to be locally extinct.
• Madagascar I have found more sawfish rostra in Madagascar than anywhere else I have worked. It seems highly likely that sawfishes are present in this country, possibly in three or more distinct habitats. In 2017 I hope to conduct sampling by means of gill nets to verify the presence of sawfishes. If successful, I also intend to encourage Madagascar’s Ministry of Fisheries to develop a national sawfish conservation strategy.
• Mozambique Interviews with fishers in Mozambique leave no doubt in my mind that sawfishes are still caught along the northern part of the coast. The logistics of working in this part of the country are complex, however, and recent political unrest and violence in the region have made it challenging to learn more.
• Peru and Ecuador Sawfishes were previously thought to occur only occasionally in Peruvian waters, but interviews suggest that largetooth sawfishes were encountered quite often by fishermen in the north. There have been some very recent catches of sawfishes in this region, including an adult sawfish caught off northern Peru in February 2015, which was released alive thanks to the education activities of a local NGO. In some South American countries where cockfighting is a popular pastime, the teeth from sawfish rostra have been used as the espuelas, or spurs, that are attached to the legs of roosters to injure their opponent.
• The Philippines The fish stocks and coastal and riverine habitats of the Philippines are highly degraded and under considerable pressure from a growing human population. Older fishermen around some of the country’s large rivers recalled having seen sawfishes in their youth, but no one spoke of catching any in recent decades. A largetooth sawfish was landed in Mindanao in 2014, but overall it seems likely that sawfishes are locally extinct around the Philippines.