More subtly, the rise of the grouper population favoured those species of parrotfish that grow too large for groupers to eat.

ECONOMIST: Fishing (I)

Just an hour from Khasab are dive sites with schools of blue and yellow Indian Ocean angelfish, Arabian butterfly fish, snappers, lionfish, groupers, stingrays and turtles.

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But destructive fishing pressure has sharply depleted ocean wildlife, some by 90 percent in 50 years, including sharks, tunas, marlin, menhaden, groupers, snappers, tarpon, turtles, shrimp, crabs and others.

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All in all, the increase in the parrotfish population led to a doubling of grazing on the reef, as well as to an increase in the number of groupers.

ECONOMIST: Fishing (I)