WATCH: Rare sawfish caught at Pakistan Iran sea border

KARACHI: A fisherman caught rare sawfish near Pakistan Iran sea border, citing the WWF-Pakistan, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to a statement of WWF-Pakistan, an extremely rare and critically endangered longcomp sawfish was caught near Jiwani, Balochistan on October 29.

“This specie, scientifically known as Pristis zijsron, is considered to be extremely rare and faces the threat of extinction”, according to the statement.

“Three species of sawfish, such as Knifetooth (Anoxypristis cuspidatus), a large tooth (Pristis pristis) and a large comb (Pristis zijsron), are reported found in Pakistan,” it said, however, due to overfishing and habitat degradation, the population of sawfish has decreased substantially and they are now considered to be nearly extinct at the local level.

“Only three authentic records of their occurrence have been found in Pakistan in the last 10 years, WWF-Pakistan stated. “The last authentic record of the occurrence of this species was reported on May 30, 2013 when a large longcomb sawfish was caught by fishermen at Khajar Creek near the River Indus mouth”.

The finding also indicates that the rare sawfish still present in the Pakistan’s waters, according to expert.

There used to be a large fishery of sawfish in Pakistan before 1970, however, their population declined by the 1980s, because of high mortality due to fishing gears.

“Sawfish have a long life, slow growth, late maturity, and low fecundity, making them extremely vulnerable to any changes that may reduce their population,” the WWF-Pakistan statement read.

Sawfish rostrums (saws) can easily become entangled in nets and other fishing gear, making them vulnerable targets for over-fishing.