Angler catches Ultra-Rare Green Sawfish in Port Douglas

Fisherman caught a surprise when he found a rare sawfish on the other end of his hook.

A PORT Douglas fisherman has amazed scientists after he hooked an incredibly rare sea creature – using nothing more than a rotting fish for bait.

After struggling to catch any live bait, he settled on a dead archer fish that was rotting in the sand.

Much to Mr Cooper’s surprise, the bait was soon taken by a massive creature.

“When I actually first hooked into it, I had no idea what I had hooked into,’’ he sad.

“This thing pulled me like three miles down the beach, for over two hours.

“When I finally reeled it in, I was like ‘what the f**k is that?”

The creature was revealed to be a 4.2m green sawfish, regarded as the largest sawfish species in the world, reaching lengths of more than 7m.

Scientists know very little about the rare animals, also known as longcomb sawfish, which are mostly only found in the Gulf of Carpentaria, where their numbers are dwindling.

Mr Cooper, who is a mad-keen fisherman and well aware of the rarity of all sawfish species, said he took great care to remove his hook and line from the animal.

I hadn't realized sawfish hadn't gotten so rare. It's a shame. I'm quite glad he released the boy back into the wild to live out the rest of his days.

Scientists know very little about the rare animals, also known as longcomb sawfish, which are mostly only found in the Gulf of Carpentaria, where their numbers are dwindling.

They are known worldwide as being critically endangered, with the main threat being unintentionally caught in fishing nets.

Terribly sad what we do to our planet and the species we live among. I'm glad this boy has another chance to live another day and this fisherman has photos to provide pictures for a great tale to tell! (Story says the fish was about 8 ft long(!!), so a big boy at that!)

“These fishermen, so called fishermen, took the fish out of the water and broke their back and threw them back in the water dead,” he said. “Well, I don’t think that is really playing by the rules.” “I have instructed the department to have a look if these people have broken the law [and to] throw the book at them.”
“I’m not going to tolerate people acting in that way, not even abiding by their code of conduct that [they] themselves have developed in order to continue fishing in those areas.”

These things are endangered and you still have them being killed by the nets of fishermen . I was living in Darwin when the below link of slaughter happened and was appalled . Nice fish caught there though , it rostrum was 6 feet . Pretty cool . Cudos to the fisherman .

blogs.crikey.com.au...

originally posted by: hutch622

“These fishermen, so called fishermen, took the fish out of the water and broke their back and threw them back in the water dead,” he said. “Well, I don’t think that is really playing by the rules.” “I have instructed the department to have a look if these people have broken the law [and to] throw the book at them.”
“I’m not going to tolerate people acting in that way, not even abiding by their code of conduct that [they] themselves have developed in order to continue fishing in those areas.”

These things are endangered and you still have them being killed by the nets of fishermen . I was living in Darwin when the below link of slaughter happened and was appalled . Nice fish caught there though , it rostrum was 6 feet . Pretty cool . Cudos to the fisherman .

blogs.crikey.com.au...

Video from your site link. This stuff breaks my heart. Truly does.

Another species set to bite the dust (or saw the seaweed) because of man's ,propensity to chew on other animals. Massive nets, nets the size of Rhode Island, are lowered into the water by wayfaring sailors of lore to scoop up the life within like you'd scoop up a goldfish with a dime store net (only these are a hundred thousand goldfish, many of them not gold) and sell the poor without-a-sporting-chance creatures like they was theirs to own. The result? Just extinction of a species or ten, with many more waiting in the wings to take the last bow. It's a jungle out there, in the sea, only with the odds greatly in favor of the hunters, who carry nets that you can't imagine the size of unless you've seen one in person. The monsters of the deep are human, and the inhabitants in the parts of the ocean labeled 'there be dragons here' have names like Sven, and Yakohoma, and Michael. Sawfish never stood a chance.

originally posted by: Aleister
Another species set to bite the dust (or saw the seaweed) because of man's ,propensity to chew on other animals. Massive nets, nets the size of Rhode Island, are lowered into the water by wayfaring sailors of lore to scoop up the life within like you'd scoop up a goldfish with a dime store net (only these are a hundred thousand goldfish, many of them not gold) and sell the poor without-a-sporting-chance creatures like they was theirs to own. The result? Just extinction of a species or ten, with many more waiting in the wings to take the last bow. It's a jungle out there, in the sea, only with the odds greatly in favor of the hunters, who carry nets that you can't imagine the size of unless you've seen one in person. The monsters of the deep are human, and the inhabitants in the parts of the ocean labeled 'there be dragons here' have names like Sven, and Yakohoma, and Michael. Sawfish never stood a chance.

The shame of it, what we aren't killing, we are ripping babies from their mothers and forcing to live in a toilet bowl for our amusement while they slowly go insane, and then we wonder, "Gee, why did they kill their trainer? They were so sweet!" We can be such monsters.

a reply to: Aleister

next time you go to the store, walk down whatever aisle holds the cat food.

100% guarantee you, there is more catch in that section, than there is in whatever 'seafood" section the store has. I promise you. especially once you discount farmed fish like tilapia, catfish, and most salmon you'll find in a store.