Shark Loss Research Paper

one generation of the animals (TEDxYouth). This is just one example on how sharks keep everything in balance. Another example is coral reefs which serve as a home to thousands of fish in the ocean such as the parrot fish. Parrot fish eat coral reefs and if they don’t have a predator to control their population size it could be detrimental to the coral reefs. The parrot fish would become overpopulated and all these fish would eat away the coral reefs. (TEDxYouth). The ocean’s ecosystems would collapse without coral reefs. Many species are at risk of extinction without coral reefs; even humans would be impacted (Osgood). If we lost the coral reefs, we would lose food for about a billion people around the world (TEDxYouth). Sharks play an important role in regulating many species, not just other fish. In order for the marine ecosystem to stay in balance, it needs strong predators such as the shark. The image that sharks have hurt their chances of being saved. It could take a very long time to change the opinion people have of sharks. A lot of the fear people associate with sharks can be related to the way they are portrayed in movies
“The consumption of shark fin, which is very common in Chinese cultures, poses a significant threat to sharks. Hong Kong has long been the world’s largest shark fin trading center. Shark conservation would become more sustainable if public understanding of this predatory fish and an appreciation of its ecological significance could be promoted.” (Kimley). They have been over-exploited because of the high demand of their fins. Between seventy to two-hundred-sixty million sharks are killed every year because of their fins for shark fin soup (TEDxYouth). Most times, shark fins are acquired through an extremely brutal process called “finning”. It is not only physically abusive but also mentally abusive to the sharks. Shark finning is the act of bringing a shark up onto