Florida sawfish face extinction risk from habitat destruction

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—A rare sawfish nursery in the Caloosahatchee River faces mounting threats from development and rising sea levels.

Joe Cavanaugh, Calusa Waterkeeper, took WINK News to one of only two known sawfish pupping areas in the river. The shallow, mangrove-fringed waters provide critical protection for young sawfish during their first years of life.

"The river is suffering death by 1,000 cuts, but if you look at a pupping area, you could say that's worth about 500 cuts right there," Cavanaugh said.

The location's shallow depth keeps predators away. Bull sharks cannot navigate the waters to attack the vulnerable sawfish.

"This particular spot where we're standing and all the way up through the creek is too shallow for big bull sharks to come in and try to attack the sawfish," Cavanaugh said. "This is where they hang out."

Young sawfish use the river as a nursery for the first five or six years of their lives. The habitat provides essential shelter during their most vulnerable developmental stage.

"This is a critical habitat," Cavanaugh said. "This is a pupping area, and there's only really two known pupping areas in this river."

The nursery faces threats from multiple sources. Rising water levels are eroding the mangrove islands that protect young fish.

"A lot of the mangrove islands are slowly getting smaller and shrinking because the water level is getting higher," Cavanaugh said.

Development pressure poses an even greater risk to the species' survival. The loss of these two pupping areas could be catastrophic.

"The number one threat to sawfish is habitat destruction," Cavanaugh said. "The development pressures are huge."

The stakes are high for the critically endangered species. The smalltooth sawfish population has dwindled to just a few hundred individuals.

"If you were to take those two pupping areas out with development, then you could lose a species," Cavanaugh said. "The population is in the hundreds."

Florida represents the last stronghold for the smalltooth sawfish. The species depends on these protected nursery areas to survive.

"Florida is really the last stronghold for the smalltooth sawfish," Cavanaugh said.

The solution requires minimal intervention. Preserving the existing habitat would protect the species without additional measures.

"All we have to do is not develop and leave it alone. That's it. Problem solved," Cavanaugh said.

A federal smalltooth sawfish recovery plan aims to help the critically endangered fish reproduce and rebuild their population. The long-term plan could take years before showing measurable improvement in the species' numbers.