A new study recently published by science journal PLoS ONE has indicated that shark population in Australia's Great Barrier Reef may be witnessing a sharp decline due to unregulated fishing activities in the area.

Researchers from James Cook University in Queensland said on Wednesday that newly-appreciated evidences have pointed to the likelihood that sharks dwelling in the Reef may be experiencing significant losses in the past years.

Globally, the trend is alarming, according to Professor Sean Connolly as he added that a number of species are presently regarded as endangered.

While Connolly conceded that issuing an accurate estimate on the current numbers and state of shark population around the world could be somewhat challenging, he stressed that new techniques employed in the new research offered better methods of appreciation for scientists.

At present, shark numbers are decimated either by accidental fishing or deliberate hunting for the marine mammal's fin, which is a priced commodity in many parts of Asia, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).

Yet with the study's fresh analytical method, university researchers decided to look closely on growth, reproductive and mortality data of the grey reef shark and the white-tip reef shark, two shark species that Connolly said tend to gravitate towards the famed Great Barrier Reef.

With the help of statistical methods and by establishing variables in known shark areas, the study arrived at a conclusion that shark population, at least within the areas covered by the Reef, is dangerously shrinking.

"Shark declines are quite rapid ... and our consensus estimates are around six percent per year decline for white-tip reef sharks and nine percent for grey reef sharks," Connolly was quoted by AFP as saying in the report.

He added that the estimates they have drawn were actually conservative and since many factors on shark population were quite hard to determine during the research period, the actual drop may prove a bit higher.

However, lead author Mizue Hisano is optimistic that the trend could still be reversed as the research findings should offer viable clues that could lead to better protection of shark population, not only in the Reef area but also around the world.

"We believe that our study demonstrates that this approach may be applied to a broad range of exploited species for which direct estimates of mortality are ambiguous or lacking, leading to improved estimates of population growth," Hisano told AFP.

And the overall situation is not very good, Connolly asserted, as he added that "shark populations in other countries with significant coral reefs in our region are going to be in much worse shape even than ours are ... and ours are not in good shape."