These formidable predators in the Mediterranean Sea are facing a serious threat of extinction, with poaching being a key factor to their alarming decline.
This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who worked alongside an marine preservation group. They note that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in fish markets across the North African coast.
Great whites are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to sell them.
However, by monitoring fishing ports along the coastline of North Africa, scientists discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in the single year of 2025.
Videos shared online showing protected sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been confirmed.
One video showed a sizeable great white shark being pulled from a boat from a trawler in Algeria. Another, taken in a Tunisian location, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.
Remaining Habitat
The principal scientist, explained that many shark species – great whites especially – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.
"No other body of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been intensifying... and it's likely that they will become extinct in the coming years."
The Mediterranean white shark population is now classified as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.
In their new mission to locate and research the predators, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.
A primary objective of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.
To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of tuna oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.
Even after a fortnight of effort – chumming the water, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.
They captured only a short sighting of one shark on their cameras.
"It's disappointing," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this ecosystem is."
During their search for remaining sharks, they also were informed that a small 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 specimen was accidentally caught in fishing gear, 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 team, along with local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that protected sharks are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.
The regulations safeguarding sharks are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have global protection – including mako, angel, 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 specifies "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from country to country.
A conservationist noted that his own investigation found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope 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."
The Path Forward
In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.
"Why would they discard their catch 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."
A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean collaborated, "there is hope."
"But," he added, "we've got to act very quickly."
