Our goal is to conduct outreach, research, and monitoring to assess the effects of an unprecedented mortality event on the remaining smalltooth sawfish population, which occurs almost entirely…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded the Natural Resources South Carolina Department $143,351 on January 1, 2026, under the Cooperative Research Program (CFDA 11.472) to conduct outreach, research, and monitoring of smalltooth sawfish population recovery in Florida waters and assess effects of a recent unprecedented mortality event on the remaining population.

The award funds four primary activities: maintenance of the sawfish hotline and its associated database as an outreach mechanism and primary data source for the recovery plan; fishery-independent sampling in the Charlotte Harbor Estuary Unit of small juvenile critical habitat, the Southern Indian River Lagoon, and other regions where evidence of re-establishment may be occurring; long-term acoustic tagging (10+ years) and receiver deployment to monitor movements in existing and historically occupied nursery habitats; and monitoring of large-scale movements of older life stages statewide using two acoustic data-sharing networks. These efforts address at least 29 action items from the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Plan and support ongoing management needs expressed by the National Marine Fisheries Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Coastal and Heartland National Estuary Partnership, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and City of Cape Cape Coral. The extended acoustic monitoring will document juvenile habitat shifts within nurseries, track transitions of larger size classes out of nurseries, and establish connectivity of coastal habitat use across the species' range, with applications to recovery planning and abundance assessment given the species' 30+ year lifespan.

Period of performance runs from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2027, with place of performance in Columbia, South Carolina.

Our goal is to conduct outreach, research, and monitoring to assess the effects of an unprecedented mortality event on the remaining smalltooth sawfish population, which occurs almost entirely within florida state waters, while addressing ongoing management needs expressed by multiple agencies (e.g., national marine fisheries service, army corp of engineers, florida department of environmental protection) and stakeholder groups (e.g., coastal and heartland national estuary partnership, conservancy of southwest florida, city of cape coral). This project will contribute to implementation of at least 29 action items (8 priority 1, 11 priority 2, 10 priority 3) outlined in the smalltooth sawfish recovery plan. Specifically, we are requesting funds to (1) maintain the sawfish hotline and its associated database, which is a major outreach mechanism and primary data source for the recovery plan, (2) conduct fishery-independent sampling in the charlotte harbor estuary unit of small juvenile critical habitat, the southern indian river lagoon which is a historically occupied nursery where preliminary evidence has shown RE-establishment may be occurring, and other regions as necessary, (3) use long-term acoustic tags (10+ years) and receivers to monitor movements in existing and historically occupied nursery habitats, and (4) monitor the large-scale movements of older life stages state-wide using 2 acoustic data-sharing networks. The questions we seek to answer about movement are broad and long-term because the species can live at least 30 years. Use of 10+-year life acoustic tags will allow US to document movements as juveniles shift habitats within nurseries, when larger size classes transition out of nurseries, and track connectivity of coastal habitat use range-wide. Collectively, these data are vital for recovery planning, assessing relative abundance, and will improve our understanding of the sawfish life cycle, including establishment of migration corridors related to identifying adult critical habitat, including mating grounds.