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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with unlawful fishing practices being a significant driver to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They note that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are being sold in fish markets across North Africa.

Great whites are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which renders it unlawful to catch them or to offer them for sale.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists found that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing protected sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been confirmed.

One video showed a big shark being pulled from a boat from a trawler in an Algerian port. Another, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The lead researcher, stated that many populations of sharks – particularly great whites – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other stretch of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been growing... and it's likely that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now listed as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their most recent effort to locate and research the sharks, 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.

An important goal of their expedition was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a white shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try this, the researchers used over three tons of fish bait – including frozen fish parts and hundreds of liters of scent 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 test for environmental DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any sharks to tag.

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

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

As the team searched for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been caught and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that shark was ensnared unintentionally in nets or lines, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, believes that over forty great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Sharks for Sale

The scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The rules that protect sharks are complex. Currently, numerous species have global protection – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.

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

The agreement specifies "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and implementation differs from country to country.

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

"It shows that there is animals still there," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a possibility of comeback."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas 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 must feed their households?" asked a scientist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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