Karwar: Giant Sawfish caught in fishermen’s net
Bellevision Media Network
Karwar, 18 January 2011: A giant saw fish was caught in fishermen’s net on Monday. This fish is called as Pristis in English and locals call this fish as “Thinski”. It has a saw like structure in its mouth which uses it for hunting in the sea. Dr. V. N. Nayak of Karnataka University said that this fish belongs to shark group.
This fish costs similar to shark fish in the market and its tail is usually exported to other countries. There is huge demand for the soup of its tail in China, it is said. This fish which was caught on Monday is weighing about 300 to 400 kg and it is about 18 feet 4 inches long. It has about three and half feet long saw like structured mouth also with 32 teeth.
Four fishermen from Devabhaga of Karwar Taluk were fishing on Monday morning at the border of Goa and at that time this huge fish was caught in their nets. The fishermen pulled the fish to the shore and it was alive until it was brought to shore. During catching this fish the fisherman Dattathreya Narayana Kumatekar was injured by its saw like teeth. The other fishermen with him were Sunil Chandrakanth Balekar, Prashanth and Dinesh Anand.
It seems that this fish is very rare in the west coast and seldom caught in the net. Popular cameraman Panduranga Harikanth says that about 30 years ago similar fish was caught.
- Udayavani
Comments on this Article | |
Apex, Europe | Sun, January-23-2011, 2:11 |
Wow, what a magnificient creature - Too bad it got caught in the net. | |
KIDE Saikou, Nouadhibou (Mauritanie) | Fri, January-21-2011, 8:44 |
This genus is rare in the world seas; fishermen must raise awareness about the preservation of these species. In Mauritania and particularly in the national park of Arguin bank species of the genus have existed since the 1970-80s and currently not found, probably decimated by fishing. | |
Rachel Graham, Belize | Wed, January-19-2011, 11:30 |
What an incredible find, this looks like Pristis microdon, the largetooth sawfish, so incredibly rare that it is classified as Critically Endangered to Extinction by the IUCN. This animal was obviously the size to be mature. It would have been good to know if it s a female or male and if female, did it have young (pups) and if so how many and what size. Any information of this type is extremely helpful to better understand the biology of this rare animal. Definitely worth keeping the saw and taking a skin sample placed in alcohol for future population studies! | |
Sonja Fordham, USA | Tue, January-18-2011, 1:30 |
Sawfish are listed under India s Wildlife Protection Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. International Trade in the fins and other parts of this species is banned. Stricter enforcement of protections and education of fishing communities are needed to improve the outlook for this critically endangered group of animals. |