Australian woman battles rare green sawfish for 40 minutes

Brooke Paull, a 44-year-old fisherman, recently had an unexpected adventure while fishing in Carnarvon, a coastal town in Western Australia. During a date, she cast her line and felt a strong tug. Initially thinking it was a shark, she was shocked to discover it was a rare sawfish. Paull faced a tough 40-minute struggle to reel in the three-meter-long fish. The effort proved challenging, especially for her 48-kilogram frame. “It was an amazing moment,” she said. After catching the sawfish, she wrapped a towel around its eyes to calm it down while she freed it from the fishing line. However, as she tried to return the fish to the water, it became frenzied. In the chaos, the sawfish slashed Paull's leg before escaping back into the ocean. She ended up with several cuts but remained in high spirits, calling it “the best fish of my life.” Later, she drove herself to the hospital for treatment, where she received antibiotics and a tetanus shot. Dr. Barbara Wueringer, a zoologist, confirmed that Paull had caught a critically endangered green sawfish. These fish are extremely rare, with only 200 to 5,000 remaining in the wild. They are usually found in northern Australia, and their populations are threatened by habitat loss and fishing nets. Wueringer encouraged anyone who spots a sawfish to report it to conservation groups in Australia.