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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean basin are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a significant driver to their rapid population drop.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are being sold in fish markets across the North African coast.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which prohibits to target them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the coastline of North Africa, investigators discovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been caught and killed there in the single year of 2025.

Footage from social media showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been independently verified.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a trawler in an Algerian port. A separate video, recorded in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what looks like a mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Final Refuge

The lead researcher, stated that many shark species – great whites especially – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the past years.

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

The Mediterranean white shark population is now listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their new mission to track and analyze the sharks, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a white shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of bait – including baitfish and hundreds of liters of tuna oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Despite working for two weeks – chumming the water, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using subsea cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any specimens.

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

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

During their search for surviving sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been taken in a regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that shark was caught by accident in nets or lines, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, believes that more than 40 great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The researchers, along with local partners, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, numerous species have international legal protection – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.

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

The agreement specifies "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for unintentional catch and compliance varies from one place to another.

A marine advocate noted that his own research found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

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

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen 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 release sharks into the sea when they need food for their children?" asked a scientist. "If you support them and train them in more sustainable 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."