Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata Latham) 5-Year Review : Summary and Evaluation

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) initiated a 5-year review of smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata Latham) in May 2008. NMFS solicited information from the public through a Federal Register (FR) notice (73 FR 29482, May 21, 2008), as well as through personal and written communications with several educational institutions, Federal, and State governments, and private research organizations. Three public comments were received (Mark Lewis/Biscayne National Park, Joseph Choromanski/Ripleys Aquariums, and Jan Hoover/U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center). To complete the review we collected, evaluated, and incorporated all information that has become available on the species since April 2003, the date of the listing, including the species recovery plan which was finalized in January 2009. Thus, the review is based upon the best scientific and commercial data available. 2010 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) Library Public Domain 1862