Bright spots for research and conservation of the largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis in Colombia and Panamá

Abstract

Sawfishes are considered one of the most endangered families of fishes globally. Their diadromous ecology and vulnerability to fishing nets have brought most populations to the brink of collapse. Conservation of surviving populations is hindered by limited knowledge of historic and contemporary distribution. Colombia and Panamá are 2 of 22 countries considered as high priority for the development of species-specific national legal protection of the Critically Endangered largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis. To construct a baseline for the temporal and spatial distribution of the largetooth sawfish in Colombia and Panamá, we collected historical records from museum databases and literature over the past century, analysed available small-scale fisheries landings databases, and conducted interviews with fishers in 38 locations. We found 248 records of sawfish occurrences across both countries between 1896 and 2015, with 69% of the records from before 2000. The declining frequency of observations was corroborated by fishers, who reported fewer sawfish sightings and catches over the last 20 yr. Results from a regression model of total length and observed date suggest that the maximum size of observed sawfish individuals has also declined over time. We use location data from sawfish records to identify potential ‘bright spots’ that may foster remaining populations of sawfish. The locations of sawfish records were broadly characterised as remote areas with high mangrove forest cover. Given the length and cultural diversity of the Pacific coastlines of Colombia and Panamá, our findings provide important guidance to implement rapid conservation and fisheries interventions in these priority areas and highlight geographical gaps in knowledge for further work.

Vulnerability of Eastern Tropical Pacific chondrichthyan fish to climate change

“…Panama and Colombia have some of the highest rates of annual rainfall in the world, maintaining many river deltas and estuaries with low salinities (Fiedler & Talley, 2006; López‐Angarita, Cubillos‐M, et al., 2021), yet Central America is one of the regions where climate change models consistently predict increases in temperature and decreases in precipitation during the wet season (Ward et al., 2016). These changes will alter estuaries and lagoons, with some potentially becoming incorporated into the sea.…”

Interdisciplinary science and fishers’ local ecological knowledge of sawfishes in the Yucatán Peninsula

“…Blanco & Niño (2022) accounted for 85 species of elasmobranchs, 36 rays, and 49 sharks in the Mexican Caribbean. However, baseline information is scant for chondrichthyans, including sawfishes, and the expansion of such data could prove a vital progression towards their conservation and future management (Koubrak, 2018; Poulakis & Grubbs, 2019; López et al, 2021; Becerril et al, 2022).…”

“…They have been an important fisheries resource as well as having culinary and medicinal uses, along with use as cultural trophies and in ritual practices (Gonzalez, 2005; Bonfil et al, 2017; Bonfil et al, 2018). Historically, sawfishes were common in food webs of estuarine, lagoonal, and coastal habitats spanning tropical and subtropical latitudes across the globe (French & Naylor, 2018; López et al, 2021). Today, however, sawfishes ( Pristis spp.)…”

A Bibliometric Analysis Concerning Local Ecological Knowledge on Elasmobranchs and Chimaeras

“…Our results when evaluating ethnoichthyology in a broad manner indicate that most research was carried out in marine ecosystems, as reported by Ladislau et al (2021). This reflects the number of Elasmobranchs and Chimaeras species that occur in these environments, as most species are exclusively marine, although part of part of their life cycles may take place in estuarine environments (Ebert et al 2021;Gomes et al 2019), with the exception of some stingrays (Potamotrygonidae), restricted to freshwater (Lucifora et al 2022;Rosa et al 2008), Carcharhinus leucas (Heupel and Simpfendorfer 2007) and Pristis pristis (López-Angarita et al 2021;Whitty et al 2017), which can be found in estuarine and eventually freshwater environments. However, few of the articles retrieved here focused on freshwater environments.…”