Peruvian fisher Martin Maceda still vividly remembers the first time he encountered a large-tooth sawfish. It was on March 1, 2014, and Maceda was with his crewmates 8 kilometers off the north coast of Peru when he saw a humongous shark-like creature trapped in his net while he was hauling his catch. Immediately, Maceda realized that it wasn’t a shark, swordfish, or any other animal he’d seen before.
“I’m 57 years old and have been fishing since I was 12, and I’d always heard of pez sierra [sawfish] and that, before, there used to be a lot of them. I had only ever seen photos in books until that day,” he recalled.
Scientifically called Pristis pristis, the largetooth sawfish Maceda and his crewmates accidentally captured measured nearly 5 meters (16 feet) long. While the boat’s owner wanted to keep the snout of the fish to display as a relic, plans changed when the boat motor broke and the owner had insufficient funds for repair. Instead, he sold the teeth of the sawfish to cockfighters who would then use them as spurs for cockfights.
Largetooth sawfish are only one of the five sawfish species historically found in Peru. They are considered critically endangered by the IUCN, and their prominent snout or rostrum (rostra in plural) is what they use to find their prey. Their “teeth” are hardened modified scales, and the way they protrude gives them the unique appearance that makes them look like a saw, hence the name.
While outsiders may see fish parts strapped to roosters’ ankles as an odd thing, numerous largetooth sawfish advocates have realized that cockfighting, which is legal in Peru, has a prominent role in accelerating or putting a stop to the demise of the species in the region.
Sawfish are endangered due to losing their habitat, and they are also victims of the black market where their snout and teeth are commonly trafficked. Almost nothing is known about them as they are understudied in certain places such as the coasts of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. For several decades, their species were even assumed to be eradicated as they are extremely rare in the region.
“At the Latin American level, we cannot talk about sawfish populations because no one knows even an approximate number for the populations in their own countries,” said sawfish expert Mariano Cabanillas-Torpoco who is also a research fellow at Brazil’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
Together with an international team of scientists and conservationists, Cabanillas-Torpoco led the group in surveying around a hundred Peruvian fishers and cockfighters in 2016 and 2017. The survey aimed to study and learn about where sawfish once lived and how they were used in Peru and Ecuador.
From the respondents, at least 49 Peruvian cockfighters agreed to an interview, and around half of them answered that they had purchased sawfish-tooth spurs at least once in the last five years.
With cockfighting having a 500-year history in the country, it’s no wonder that many Peruvian cockfighters are protective of the sport and its cultural significance despite it being a controversial practice in other countries.
Late 20th century Peruvian cockfighters primarily used three types of spurs, namely plastic, turtle shell (typically hawksbill, another endangered species), and sawfish tooth. Around the year 2000, several Peruvian cockfighting leagues started banning cockfighters from using animal-derived spurs.
Cabanillas-Torpoco does admit that she can see a practical reason why cockfighters are motivated to protect sawfish. “They see it as an opportunity to promote the sport, by saying ‘Cockfighters are encouraging sawfish conservation,” she said.
But for Peruvian cockfighting leagues that banned the use of sawfish-tooth spurs, preventing extinction wasn’t their sole reason.
According to Victor Negrete, president of the Lima-based Worldwide Gamefowl Breeders Association, spurs made from sawfish can also deal more severe wounds to roosters compared to artificial spurs, which is why he is also an advocate for banning their use. He also mentioned that other cockfighters perceived the use of animal-based spurs to be “unsportsmanlike.”
Negrete has been raising awareness among fellow Peruvian cockfighters for more than two decades, providing them with resources about abandoning sawfish-tooth spurs through presentations, flyers, and even via social media. However, he does know that eliminating the demand for sawfish products used in cockfighting is a “long and delicate process” but it is one that he aims to persevere in advocating for.
According to Negrete, there is proof that demand for sawfish spurs has decreased as the prices are nowhere near their highest compared to the 1990s. Additionally, he acknowledged that cultural shifts can be quite slow but Negrete insisted that peddlers and buyers of sawfish spurs are fewer now. “It’s not a change that takes just one day,” he stated.
Kerstin Forsberg, a co-author of the sawfish-cockfighting study and the director of the Peruvian marine conservation nonprofit Planeta Océano said that it’s vital to understand that cockfighting isn’t the sole reason for the near-extinction of sawfish in Peru and around the region. Instead, it’s habitat destruction and incidental capture.
President of Peruvian marine conservation nonprofit ecOceanica Alejandra Mendoza recalled how when she was still a young fisheries scientist in 2015, a local fisher called her while she was collecting data in a northern Peruvian fishing village. Upon arriving at the dock, Mendoza found a 6-meter (20-foot) sawfish caught in a gillnet. This sawfish ended up being one of the first documented sawfish in Peru in decades.
Generally, sawfish could have up to two dozen pairs of sharp teeth, and each tooth might create up to four sets of spurs, and selling them can mean earning a huge amount of money. The fisherman who had called Mendoza wanted to put the sawfish in a pond and turn it as a tourist attraction, but many other fishers wanted to sell the teeth of the sawfish as spurs to cockfighters for the payout could total up to a thousand dollars. The amount is the equivalent of what many fishers in Peru make for the majority of the year.
But even with accidental captures of sawfish and the destruction of their habitat, Forsberg maintains that cockfighting is a factor that needs to be addressed. According to Forsberg, spurs can be seen being sold on Facebook and Mercado Libre, a popular Latin American site similar to eBay and Amazon. Spurs originating from Brazil and Central America are being sold in Peru as well.
As more reports of sightings of other large-tooth sawfish came in, local marine conservationists and scientists spurred on to advocate for protecting what remains of the species. The Peruvian Ministry of Production prohibited the capture, transport, and sale of any sawfish body parts within Peru around early 2020.
According to many advocates though, a better training seminar is needed for enforcers to detect and recognize sawfish-derived spurs. “They’re very easy to transport and sell, and there’s a lack of awareness at every level, including the inspectors,” said Forsberg.
Sawfish conservation and protection have been gaining traction for years, but as catches are dwindling and with fishermen stating that the past couple of years have been the worst they’ve experienced, the tides could turn. The reputation of sawfish teeth selling for thousands may just convince desperate fishers to bring their captured fish to shore instead and sell their teeth as a solution to their current financial woes.
It is illegal to do so, but Mendoza said they’re not sure how fishers could just “bring themselves to release so much money very easily.” Edgardo Cruz, a fisherman from the northernmost coastal province of Tumbes, agreed. “Of course! It would sell immediately. With how the [economic] situation is now, fishermen will catch and sell anything they can.”
