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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their rapid population drop.

This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They note that various at-risk marine animals – such as the great white – are being sold in ports across the North African coast.

Great white sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which prohibits to fish for them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the coastline of North Africa, investigators uncovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

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

A particular clip showed a big shark being hauled ashore from a fishing boat in Algeria. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what looks like a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Last Shark Stronghold

The lead researcher, explained that many shark populations – great whites especially – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other stretch of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's possible that they will become extinct in the near future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now classified as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their new mission to find and study the predators, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

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

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Despite working for two weeks – chumming the water, collecting water samples to look for genetic material and using underwater cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for remaining sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been captured and killed in a North African fishery – just not far from where they were working.

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

The team, however, estimates that over forty great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The team, along with regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – like makos and hammerheads.

An international agreement 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 compliance varies from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own investigation found a number of 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 preserve this, there is a possibility of comeback."

The Path Forward

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to feed their family, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "If you support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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