A Great White Shark in Guadalupe Island Environment by Arun Singh Mann Premium Content Subscriber only A SENIOR marine researcher is calling for vital funding to increase shark population research as he aims to explain why Far Northern fishers are getting "busted up" more often. James Cook University fisheries senior lecturer Dr Andrew Chin said cries of shark populations spiralling out of control could be true, but there was no data to prove numbers were rising. The former Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority staffer said a number of factors, including animal behaviour, was likely making it seem to recreational fishers, that the population was rising. His comments come after Fishing Port Douglas' Lynton Heffer said shark numbers had "definitely exploded", while Cassowary Coast recreational fisher Mark Anderson labelled that as "hype".