A lanky fish with a saw nose will be the first marine fish in U.S. waters to be listed under the 30 year old Endangered Species Act. The listing extends their protection beyond Florida waters, nine miles in the Gulf of Mexico and three miles on the East Coast. Scientist, Colin Simpfendorger said, "there were hundreds of thousands of these animals historically". The fish are treasured as a delicacy in the Orient for fin soup; however, they have no commercial value in the U.S. Their studded snouts, while efficient for catching fish becomes easily entangled in nets. By-catch, recreational fishing and habitat loss cut their numbers by an estimated 95-99 percent. Prime habitats are the Indian River Lagoon and the St. John's River and now they are only found near the Everglades and Keys. They belong to the same family as sharks and rays, which means they are slow to reach reproductive age and have few offspring, taking 15-20 years to mature and can live about 40-50 years. In 1992 Florida banned harvesting the fish, then in 1999 the Ocean Conservancy petitioned to add the fish to the endangered list.