Saw Fish in Zimbabwe
Sawfish are within the ray order Rajiformes, and are closely related to sharks. Unlike the rest of the cartilaginous fishes, sawfish have evolved a long snout edged with special teeth. The saw-like snout, called a rostrum, can be used in a back and forth swiping motion to cut prey in half or to dig through the sediment.
Biology:
All sawfishes are marine species, but Large tooth Sawfish also spend part of their lives in rivers. Rivers are important nursery areas for Large tooth Sawfish. The Green Sawfish can live for more than 50 years and Large tooth Sawfish for at least 44 years.
Saw Fish in Zimbabwe
Large tooth Sawfish used to penetrate as far inland as Zimbabwe in large rivers such as the Zambezi. There are two species of sawfish which used to be found in Zimbabwe:
- Green Sawfish (Pristis zijsron) and the
- Large tooth Sawfish (Pristis perotteti).
Status:
Sawfish are considered extinct in Zimbabwe. Outside of Zimbabwe, Sawfish were previously common along the Kwazulu Natal (KZN) coast of Southern Africa and Eastern Africa (Somalia.
The St. Lucia estuary system was regarded as a particularly important habitat and breeding area. Sawfishes disappeared due to a combination of a targeted recreational fishery and as a result of reduced water flows due to agriculture and industry.
Shark nets off the KZN coast caught 30 sawfish in the 1980s, three in the 1990s, and none since. The last recorded KZN capture of any sawfish (not identified to species level) was in 1999. They are now considered to be locally extinct in South Africa. They are at the very best rare in the southern Mozambique.
Opportunities:
Surveys of the larger river systems and fisher interviews are necessary to confirm the persistence of sawfishes outside the Quirimbas area of Mozambique, where they are likely to persist.
Several countries in eastern Africa have been identified as priority countries, those that need urgent basic legal protection for sawfish populations: Mozambique, Tanzania and Madagascar.
Surveys are required in Tanzania, Kenya and Somalia to evaluate the status of sawfishes there
