A rare sawfish was caught on Thursday by fishermen in Malpe, Karnataka. A sawfish or carpenter shark is a critically endangered species, protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. According to The New Indian Express, the 10-foot sawfish was brought to shore by deep-sea fishermen with the help of a crane. Images of the huge fish being transported in the crane were widely shared on social media this weekend.
The footage also shows people crowding in the harbor to catch a glimpse of the carpenter shark.
The sawfish, which weighed about 250 kilograms, was caught by fishermen in the deep-sea fishing boat ‘Sea Captain’. It was reportedly sold to a Mangaluru trader after being taken to the Malpe fishing port. However, auctioning an endangered and protected species can cause problems for fishermen. It can be the same punishment as killing a tiger.
The joint director of the fisheries department, Ganesh K, confirmed that an investigation into the incident has been launched, the Times of India reported.
A Twitter account called Mangalore City shared more images of the sawfish. “Carpenter sharks are an endangered species and their populations have declined,” they wrote, citing experts.
According to the experts, carpenter sharks are an endangered species and their population has declined. They are a protected species in India under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.pic.twitter.com/mEruTiwFyQ
— Mangalore City (@MangaloreCity) March 12, 2022
“This species has been sighted off the Indian coast less than 10 times in the last decade,” said Dr. Shivakumar BH, Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Biology KU-PGC, Karwar, as he spoke about the rare catch.
Sawfish are a family of rays characterized by their long and narrow nose extension. Sawfish are among the most endangered marine fish in the world, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. All five species of sawfish are on the endangered list, three of which are critically endangered.
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