access to food) and individuals have lived for decades, but breeding them has proven difficult. In 2012, four smalltooth sawfish pups were born at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas and this remains the only time a member of this family has been successfully bred in captivity (unsuccessful breeding attempts had happened earlier at the same facility, including a miscarriage in 2003). Nevertheless, it is hoped that this success may be the first step in a captive breeding program for the threatened sawfish. It is speculated that seasonal variations in water temperature, salinity and photoperiod are necessary to encourage breeding. Artificial insemination, as already has been done in a few captive sharks, is also being considered. Tracking studies indicate that if sawfish are released to the wild after spending a period in captivity (for example, if they outgrow their exhibit), they rapidly adopt a movement pattern similar to that of fully wild sawfish. Among the five sawfish species, only the four Pristis species are known to be kept in public aquariums. The most common is the largetooth sawfish with studbooks including 16 individuals in North America in 2014, 5 individuals in Europe in 2013 and 13 individuals in Australia in 2017, followed by the green sawfish with 13 individuals in North America and 6 in Europe. Both these species are also kept at public aquariums in Asia and the only captive dwarf sawfish are in Japan. In 2014, studbooks included 12 smalltooth sawfish in North America, and the only kept elsewhere are at a public aquarium in Colombia. Decline and conservation Sawfish were once common, with habitat found along the coastline of 90 countries, locally even abundant, but they have declined drastically and are now among the most threatened groups of marine fish. Fishing for various uses Sawfish and their parts have been used for numerous things. In approximate order of impact, the four most serious threats today are use in shark fin soup, as traditional medicine, rostral teeth for cockfighting spurs and the saw as a novelty item. Despite being rays rather than sharks, sawfish have some of most prized fins for use in shark fin soup, on level with tiger, mako, blue, porbeagle, thresher, hammerhead, blacktip, sandbar and bull shark. As traditional medicine (especially Chinese medicine, but also known from Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, India and Bangladesh) sawfish parts, oil or powder have been claimed to