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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with unlawful fishing practices being a significant driver to their alarming decline.

This conclusion is based on studies conducted by experts, who partnered with an ocean protection organization. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are being sold in marketplaces across the North African coast.

Great white sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which makes it illegal to catch them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, investigators discovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been killed there in the single year of 2025.

Social media clips showing endangered sharks being landed at North African ports has been authenticated.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being hauled ashore from a trawler in an Algerian port. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what appears to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Last Shark Stronghold

The principal scientist, stated that many shark species – particularly great whites – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other sea is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been growing... and it's plausible that they will become extinct in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their new mission to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area known as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

A primary objective of their mission was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of chum – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of tuna oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Despite working for two weeks – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.

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

"It's discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this marine environment is."

As the team searched for remaining sharks, they also learned that a juvenile great white had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

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

The team, however, calculates 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 team, along with colleagues in North Africa, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The protective legislation are complicated. Currently, numerous species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

An multinational pact states that those species cannot be "kept on boats, transferred, landed, stored, or sold".

The agreement states "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from one place to another.

A conservationist noted that his own research found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a hope for revival."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to provide for their families, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "If you support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope."

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