1. All five species of sawfishes (family Pristidae) are amongst the most threatened marine fishes in the world, with steep population declines and local extinctions documented across their ranges.
2. Sawfishes have featured in Sri Lankan species checklists since 1889. However, landing records are extremely rare and little information is available on their status, diversity, and recent occurrences.
3. Interviews were conducted with 300 fishers and 10 fish traders. Only 39% of fishers (n = 118) could identify sawfishes, 37% had seen sawfishes (although half not since 1992), and only 10.7% had ever caught one. No respondents under 30 years could identify sawfishes. Older respondents (>50 years) were more likely to have caught sawfishes and reported seeing them frequently until 30 years ago, while younger respondents had only seen them at landing sites and, at most, once or twice in their life. Only 10 respondents had seen a sawfish in the last decade, suggesting that sawfishes were relatively abundant in the past but that populations have drastically declined.
4. Of the 32 respondents who had caught sawfishes, 30 reported declining numbers and attributed it to fishing pressure. These steep declines coincide with the time of increased fishing effort, the development of the aquaculture industry, and resulting degradation of coastal habitats in the 1980–1990s.
5. Overall, sawfishes had little cultural significance although fishers had specific names for the different species occurring here and rostra were sometimes donated to Catholic churches for ‘good luck’. Landed sawfishes were primarily sold for meat and traders appeared unaware of the high value of fins.
6. It is likely that sawfishes are now functionally extinct as a component of coastal ecosystems in Sri Lanka. Immediate action including species-specific legislation and critical habitat protection is urgently needed to provide remaining sawfishes and other sharks and rays with a fighting chance.

中文翻译：

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所有的锯鳐都去哪儿了？斯里兰卡这些极度濒危物种数量下降的前景

1. 所有五种锯鳐（Pristidae 科）都是世界上受威胁最严重的海洋鱼类之一，其种群数量急剧下降，并在其范围内记录了局部灭绝。
2. 自 1889 年以来，锯鳐就出现在斯里兰卡的物种清单中。然而，登陆记录极为罕见，关于它们的状态、多样性和最近发生的情况的信息很少。
3. 采访了 300 名渔民和 10 名鱼商。只有 39% 的渔民 ( n  = 118) 能够识别锯鳐，37% 见过锯鳐（尽管一半自 1992 年以来没有），只有 10.7% 曾经钓到过锯鳐。30 岁以下的受访者无法识别锯鳐。年长的受访者（> 50 岁）更有可能钓到锯鳐，并报告说在 30 年前经常看到它们，而年轻的受访者只在登陆点见过它们，一生中最多见过一两次。在过去十年中，只有 10 名受访者见过锯鳐，这表明锯鳐过去相对丰富，但数量急剧下降。
4. 在捕获了锯鳐的 32 名受访者中，有 30 人报告数量下降，并将其归因于捕捞压力。这些急剧下降与 1980-1990 年代捕捞努力增加、水产养殖业的发展以及由此导致的沿海栖息地退化的时期相吻合。
5. 总体而言，锯鳐几乎没有文化意义，尽管渔民对这里出现的不同物种有特定的名称，并且有时会将 rostra 捐赠给天主教堂以求“好运”。上岸的锯鳐主要用于肉类，贸易商似乎没有意识到鱼翅的高价值。
6. 作为斯里兰卡沿海生态系统的一个组成部分，锯鳐现在可能已经功能性灭绝。迫切需要立即采取行动，包括针对特定物种的立法和重要的栖息地保护，为剩余的锯鳐和其他鲨鱼和鳐鱼提供战斗机会。