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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean waters are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their rapid population drop.

This assessment is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They note that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are found on sale in fish markets across the North African coast.

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

However, by observing harbors along the coastline of North Africa, investigators uncovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

Videos shared online showing protected sharks being landed at North African ports has been independently verified.

One piece of footage showed a sizeable great white shark being hauled ashore from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The principal scientist, stated that many populations of sharks – great whites especially – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other sea is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been increasing... and it's possible that they will vanish in the coming years."

The Mediterranean great whites is now listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their new mission to track and analyze the predators, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

One key aim of their expedition was to deploy a tracking device onto a great white – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of bait – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

After two weeks of work – baiting the ocean, collecting water samples to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any animals to tag.

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

"It's disheartening," 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 regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that animal was caught by accident in nets or lines, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, calculates that over forty 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 regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Findings shows that protected sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The protective legislation are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have international legal protection – like makos 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 states "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign 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 chance of recovery."

Possible Solutions

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to earn a livelihood, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a local expert. "If you assist and guide 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 stated, "we've got to act very quickly."