The CMC petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1999 to add the smalltooth sawfish to the endangered species list. In April, the agency announced its decision to propose the smalltooth sawfish for listing, kicking off a public comment period that runs out July 16. A final decision is due by April 2002. Listing would prompt development of a recovery plan for the fish and could result in the designation of critical habitat, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Jennifer Lee, in St. Petersburg, said controversy over the listing proposal has been nonexistent.
Nobody catches the sawfish commercially.
Voters outlawed gill nets in Florida in 1994. It has been illegal to possess a sawfish in Florida since 1992, according to state regulations. The case was dismissed, according to the Lee County Clerk of Courts. Lee said the biggest advantage of listing the smalltooth sawfish would be its value in educating anglers about the species. Sawfish live in backwaters of Southwest Florida and in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico.