Action timeline

April 1, 2003 – The National Marine Fisheries Service published a final rule listing the smalltooth sawfish as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

August 23, 2006 – The Fisheries Service announced the publication of a draft recovery plan for the smalltooth sawfish.

September 2007 – In a settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Center against the Fisheries Service, the federal government set enforceable deadlines for the designation of critical habitat for the smalltooth sawfish, green sturgeon, and elkhorn and staghorn corals.

November 20, 2008 – In response to the Center's successful lawsuit the year before, the Fisheries Service proposed to protect more than 840,000 acres of coastal habitat for the smalltooth sawfish.

January 2009 – The Fisheries Service finalized the smalltooth sawfish's recovery plan.

September 2, 2009 – The Fisheries Service published a critical habitat designation for the smalltooth sawfish of 840,472 acres along the southwestern coast of Florida.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons/David Iliff under the Gnu free documentation license