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Man fined $2000 for killing endangered smalltooth sawfish

File photo: The smalltooth sawfish is a critically endangered species, and is the only sawfish species found in Florida waters. (FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute)

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A Florida commercial fisherman has been sentenced to 80 hours of community service and fined $2,000 for cutting the bill off an endangered smalltooth sawfish and then releasing it back into the Atlantic Ocean.

A St. Johns County judge sentenced Chad Ponce, 38, last month after he pleaded guilty to charges of killing an endangered species, according to a National Marine Fisheries Service news release this week. Ponce also faces two years of probation.

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The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission began investigating Ponce in July 2018 after receiving a tip about a roughly 13-foot (4-meter) smalltooth sawfish being caught in his commercial shrimp trawl nets off the coast of Ponte Vedra, Florida. Witnesses told officials that Ponce first attempted to use a hacksaw on the animal's bill, known as a rostrum, but was unsuccessful. He then used a power saw to cut the rostrum off the live fish.

Sawfish primarily use their rostrum for sensing and hunting prey, according to wildlife officials. Not having a rostrum generally results in starvation.

The smalltooth sawfish is one of five sawfish species worldwide and the only one still found in U.S. waters.