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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with unlawful fishing practices being a significant driver to their alarming decline.

This conclusion is based on studies conducted by experts, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They indicate that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are appearing for sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great white sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which renders it unlawful to fish for them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, investigators uncovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in 2025 alone.

Videos shared online showing sharks under protection being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

One piece of footage showed a big shark being pulled from a boat from a vessel in Algeria. Another, recorded in Tunisia, shows parts of what is believed to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, explained that many shark species – particularly great whites – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other sea is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been intensifying... and it's possible that they will become extinct in the coming years."

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

In their new mission to find and study the sharks, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

An important goal of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used over three tons of bait – including frozen fish parts and a substantial volume of fish oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

After two weeks of work – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to test for environmental DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any specimens.

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

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

While the team was searching for surviving sharks, they also learned that a small great white had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that shark was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, calculates 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 researchers, along with colleagues in North Africa, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complex. Currently, 24 threatened species have treaty-based safeguards – such as makos, angel sharks, 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 released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle accidental bycatch and implementation differs from one place to another.

A expert noted that his own inquiry 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 wildlife left," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a possibility of comeback."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to earn a livelihood, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they release sharks into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a local expert. "If you assist and guide them in more selective fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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