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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean basin are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.

This finding is based on research by scientists, who worked alongside an marine preservation group. They report that several critically endangered species – such as the great white – are being sold in ports across the North African coast.

Great whites are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which renders it unlawful to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the research team discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

Footage from social media showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been independently verified.

One video showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a trawler in an Algerian port. Additional footage, recorded in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, explained that many shark populations – great whites especially – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other body of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's plausible that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now designated as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their most recent effort to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their mission was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, sampling for DNA to search for shark DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any specimens.

They captured only a fleeting sighting of one blue shark on their cameras.

"It's disheartening," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how degraded this habitat is."

During their search for living sharks, they also were informed that a young great white shark had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that specimen was accidentally caught in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, estimates that in excess of 40 great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The scientists, along with regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complex. Currently, numerous species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

An regional treaty states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale".

The agreement states "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and enforcement is variable from one place to another.

A conservationist noted that his own investigation found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a hope for revival."

The Path Forward

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they release sharks into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

An advocate added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

"But," he continued, "we've got to act very quickly."