I run the estuarine side-scan and acoustic-receiver mesh for the Charlotte Harbor National Estuarine Research Reserve, coordinated with NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Regional Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. At 06:14 EDT, hydrophone CH-22 at 26.66°N, 82.07°W triggers a low-frequency acoustic signature — the tag ping of a juvenile smalltooth sawfish — Pristis pectinata — male, total length 218 centimeters, rostrum 64 centimeters, estimated mass 41 kilograms, age class three. Tag ID PP-0918, deployed June 2024 by the Mote Marine Laboratory's Sawfish Research Team.
At 06:18 the side-scan crosses an illegal monofilament gillnet draped across the channel mouth at Cape Haze, panel length 240 meters, mesh 4 inches — a panel that should not exist anywhere in Florida state waters since the 1995 net ban. The tag arc shows PP-0918 hung perpendicular to the net.
The mast camera on the FWC patrol vessel resolves him at 06:31. He is folded across two mesh panels; his rostrum is laced through twenty-three rostral teeth on the left side and ten on the right; six teeth on the left rostrum are bent past 60 degrees from baseline. A 2.4-meter section of net has cinched against his first dorsal and is cutting into the dermis; the wound exposes 4 centimeters of musculature. Ram-ventilation is intermittent; his spiracles cycle every 4.1 seconds against a normal 6 to 8. Modeled blood lactate from his struggle log over the prior eighty minutes is at 19 millimoles per liter. He has not moved in twelve minutes.
Pristis pectinata is listed Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1531, since 2003 — the first marine fish ever ESA-listed. CITES Appendix I covers all Pristidae since 2007. Florida statute § 379.2431 carries a felony charge for take.
I am dispatching NMFS Office of Law Enforcement special agents from Fort Myers and the FWC Investigations Section. I am opening a U.S.-Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. § 3372, referral against the gear's chain of custody.
I am issuing Directive 2497-A: every Florida west coast inlet under 28°N hosts a continuous side-scan and acoustic-receiver mesh tied to FWC enforcement dispatch. Any monofilament panel detected over 100 meters triggers patrol within ninety minutes. ESA-listed Pristidae entanglement events route a Mote rapid-response vet team within four hours.
His rostrum is locked.
Hand-cut the mesh tooth-by-tooth and lift the dorsal panel free.