15-foot long sawfish caught, chopped and sold in Karachi

KARACHI: Fishermen had a big catch between the mouth of Turchan and Khajar creek of the Sindh coast when they netted a 15-feet long giant sawfish on May 26.

Locally known as liara, the gigantic yet dead sawfish was caught by shrimp trawler Al Zahid Ali. But due to the large size and heavy weight of the female large-tooth sawfish, fishermen used a crane to carry it on their boat. They later transported the endangered species to Karachi on a pick-up and auctioned it the same day at Ibrahim Hyderi.

The sawfish was estimated to weigh approximately 1,320 kg.

Sawfish are a critically endangered species and the population of this rarely occurring marine animal is globally threatened with extinction due to overfishing. Three species of sawfish namely knife-tooth (Anoxypristis cuspidatus), large-tooth (Pristis pristis) and large-comb (Pristis zijsron) were found in Pakistan.

There was an abundance of sawfish in Arabian Sea prior to the 1980s but because of the vulnerability of this species, specially the presence of a large rostra (saw) in front of their head, its population rapidly collapsed in Pakistan and since 1985, there are no commercial fisheries in existence.

It is believed that sawfish are practically extinct in Pakistan. However, during the last decade, a Pakistan based World Wilflife Fund (WWF) programme documented a few specimens, incidentally caught by fishermen and reported them to the authorities. Studies reveal that the sawfish inhabits coastal waters, and sometimes ascend rivers.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed all sawfish species as ‘Critically Endangered’ because of a worldwide decline in their populations. Sawfish is also included in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Under the Appendix 1 of CITES, the commercial trade of sawfish is prohibited.