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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a key factor to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They indicate that several critically endangered species – including great white sharks – are being sold in marketplaces across Northern African nations.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which prohibits to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the research team discovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been killed there in the single year of 2025.

Social media clips showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

A particular clip showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a vessel in Algeria. Additional footage, recorded in Tunisia, shows parts of what appears to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Remaining Habitat

The project head, stated that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had plummeted 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 intensifying... and it's likely that they will become extinct in the coming years."

The Mediterranean white shark population is now designated as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their most recent effort to locate and research the predators, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

One key aim of their mission was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a great white – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including baitfish and a substantial volume of fish oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

After two weeks of work – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to test for environmental DNA and using underwater 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 discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this marine environment is."

During their search for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – just not far from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that shark was caught by accident in fishing gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, calculates that in excess of 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 sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are multifaceted. Currently, numerous species have treaty-based safeguards – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

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

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

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry 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."

The Path Forward

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to feed their family, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

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

An advocate added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope."

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