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that has already become noticeably affected is the coral reefs
in heavily shark-fished waters. In a comparison study done by
Ruppert, Travers, Smith, Fortin, and Meekan, Rupert, who
has a P.H.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the
University of Toronto Canada, compared two reef areas off the
northwest coast of Australia within close proximities to one
another for densities in fish population. Ruppert et al
examines one reef area called Rowley Shoals, which is a
marine reef area protected from any fishing, and another reef
area called Scott reefs. The two reefs of study lie about 500
km (310 miles) apart. Ruppert et al (2013) explains the type of
fishing activity that takes place at the Scott Reefs:
Indonesian fishermen are granted access to the
Australian exclusive economic zone to pursue fishing for
sharks…Indonesian fishermen provide a chronic
disturbance on the reefs by targeting “banquet” species of
high economic value, principally shark (for the shark fin
trade). (p.3)
The country of Indonesia lies directly to the north of these
coral reefs, and the Scott Reefs are the northern most in a
collection of reefs between Australia and Indonesia. To
accomplish this study Ruppert et al set video cameras over