Man catches, saves 13-foot endangered sawfish entangled in fishing lines

By CNN Newsource

Published January 6, 2025 2:52 PM

By John Iz

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Florida (WPBF) — A man conducting shark tagging research off the coast of Hutchinson Island made an unexpected catch: an endangered sawfish measuring 13 feet and 5 inches.

Mac Johnson, who was visiting family in Jupiter, made the catch Saturday night while out with a couple of friends. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the sawfish had commercial fishing lines wrapped around its rostrum (snout), causing significant injury.

So Johnson, along with his friends Austin Malcolm and Brock Froschauer, set out to carefully and efficiently remove all the hooks and leaders from the sawfish. Afterward, they safely released it back into the water and promptly reported the incident to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for further documentation and monitoring.

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