Rare sawfish caught near Gwadar beach
The creature is 10-foot long and weighs around 96 kilograms.
KARACHI (Web Desk) - A dead sawfish was found washed ashore near Sar Bandar, some 20 kilometres off the Gwadar coast, Dunya News reported on Monday.
The creature is 10-foot long and weighs around 96 kilograms.
The sawfish is a shark-like fish with a long, thin snout covered in razor-sharp teeth that resembles a saw.
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They might look scary, but sawfish aren’t a direct threat to humans. They use their “saws” to capture and kill prey -- mostly smaller fish, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
All species of sawfishes are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and face the threat of extinction as a result of habitat loss and overfishing. They’re usually found in shallow, coastal waters.
Global populations of every species of sawfishes are estimated to have fallen to less than 10% of their historic levels, and they have been lost from at least 80% of their historic range.
The smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), for example, was once widely distributed, but available data indicate the range of this species has been reduced by about 90%, and population numbers have declined dramatically, perhaps by 95% or more.
International commerce of sawfishes has been banned globally since 2007, with the only exception being for the provision of live Pristis microdon to appropriate public aquaria for primarily conservation purposes.
