Thread by @blue_resources

1/9 We are excited to announce our paper in collaboration with @ElasmoProject that documents #sawfish decline in #SriLanka. The full paper is available at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/V…

2/9 Our team conducted 300 interviews in 2019 across Sri Lanka exploring the ecological knowledge of sawfishes and assessing the status of these @IUCNRedList #CriticallyEndangered species.

3/9 The common local names for sawfish are "Dathi mora" in Sinhala and "Vela" or "Iluppa" in Tamil. While these species had no significant cultural value, some fishers donated sawfish rostra to churches for good luck.

4/9 Of the 300 fishers, 111 (37%) had seen sawfishes but only 32 had actually caught one in their lifetime. Older, more experienced fishers were more likely to have seen one while fishers <30 years of age could not even identify these species from photos, let alone seen one!

5/9 Of the fishers who had seen sawfishes, half had not seen them since 1992. Only ten fishers had seen a sawfish in the last decade. Many older fishers said they used to "frequently" see sawfishes in the past but have not seen them for the last two to four decades.

6/9 Declines were attributed to fishing pressure, including increasing effort, use of destructive gear, and species susceptibility to entanglement. The stated period of decline overlapped with fisheries expansion and habitat degradation, largely due to aquaculture development.

7/9 We recommend that sawfishes are fully protected in Sri Lanka to protect national biodiversity and fulfil obligations to @BonnConvention (Appendix I and II) and @CITES (Appendix I). National education and awareness campaigns to support implementation will be required.

8/9 Most importantly, we recommend that proactive management is urgently enacted to prevent other sharks and rays from following the same trend. These include habitat protection, phasing out of destructive gear, and scientifically informed spatial and seasonal fishery closures.

9/9 This work would not have been possible without support from @pewenvironment, @MCAF_NEAQ (@NEAQ), @opcfhk, and the Tokyo Cement Group.