Endangered smalltooth sawfish deaths more than doubled since mid-March

Wildlife officials have announced five more endangered smalltooth sawfish mortalities occurred in the last two weeks of the ongoing abnormal fish behavior event in the Florida Keys.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, officials say 43 sawfish mortalities have been reported on Wednesday since authorities began tracking the numbers in Fall 2023.

FWC says the number of fish kill hotline reports jumped from 426 to 458 in the last two weeks. The number of fish samples collected rose to 251, 40 more than two weeks prior. The number of water samples collected by FWC from the last two weeks increased by 37 to a total of 200.

On March 19, FWC reported 21 smalltooth sawfish mortalities since the start of the event in the fall.

According to the FWC mortality page, “Reports of spinning fish from the Florida Keys started in the fall of 2023 and smalltooth sawfish mortalities were first reported in January 2024. It is possible that these two events could be related.”

Therefore, merely 36 days since the numbers released by the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners, 22 more deaths have been documented during the ongoing Florida Keys mortality event.

Of the seven different species of sawfish, the smalltooth is the only species found in Florida.

“Although the historical range of this species extended from the U.S. down to Brazil, all life stages of smalltooth sawfish are found primarily from Charlotte Harbor, Florida to the Florida Keys,” says FWC’s website.

The smalltooth sawfish is listed as a federally endangered species. Some of the primary threats facing the species are the increased amount of recreational and commercial fishing and damage to mangrove forests due to development on Florida’s coast.

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The ongoing mortality event in the Florida Keys is another blow to the species fighting to survive.

However, there is some good news for the remaining population in Florida.

“Despite the collapse of the smalltooth sawfish population during the last century, the remaining population appears to be genetically healthy,” says FWC.

The cause of the ongoing mortality event remains unknown. Nevertheless, researchers are steadfast in their attempts to figure out the cause and find a solution.

“Ongoing efforts involve the collection and analyses of water and tissue samples and coordinating the recovery of endangered smalltooth sawfish carcasses for necropsy and initiating a rescue and rehabilitation response for smalltooth sawfish,” says FWC.

Other organizations are helping FWC with their emergency response to the event.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries helped FWC officers rescue an 11-foot smalltooth sawfish from Cudjoe Key on April 5. The rescued fish was transported to Mote Marine Laboratory to be treated.

Click here to submit an online fish kill report.

Click here for more information on reporting a sighting to FWC.

Click here for more information on fish and wildlife health concerns.