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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 worked alongside an marine preservation group. They report that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are being sold in ports across the North African coast.

Great whites are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which prohibits to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators found that at least 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025.

Footage from social media showing endangered sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

A particular clip showed a big shark being hauled ashore from a trawler in Algeria. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what is believed to be a mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

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

"No other stretch of water is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been growing... and it's possible that they will vanish in the foreseeable future."

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

In their latest attempt to find and study the predators, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

A primary objective of their expedition was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a great white – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of chum – including frozen fish parts and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Despite working for two weeks – chumming the water, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any specimens.

They captured only a brief glimpse of one shark on their underwater cameras.

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been taken in a North African fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

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

The team, however, calculates 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.

Sharks for Sale

The scientists, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, numerous species have international legal protection – like makos 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 released alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for accidental bycatch and compliance varies from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

The Path Forward

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to earn a livelihood, 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 regional marine biologist. "If you assist and guide them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

Another expert added that if countries around the Mediterranean collaborated, "there is hope."

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