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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean basin are on the verge of vanishing, with poaching being a significant driver to their rapid population drop.

This finding is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They report that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are appearing for sale in marketplaces across North Africa.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, investigators discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in the single year of 2025.

Social media clips showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been authenticated.

One video showed a big shark being hauled ashore from a trawler in an Algerian port. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what appears to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

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

"No other stretch of water is fished like 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 Mediterranean great whites is now listed as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their most recent effort to find and study the animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area known as a "final refuge" 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 more than three tonnes of fish bait – including frozen fish parts and a substantial volume of tuna oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Despite working for two weeks – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any sharks to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that shark was accidentally caught in nets or lines, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, estimates that in excess of 40 great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are complicated. Currently, two dozen endangered species have treaty-based safeguards – such as makos, angel sharks, 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 mandates "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address accidental bycatch and implementation differs from country to country.

A conservationist noted that his own inquiry 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 life remaining," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a chance of recovery."

The Path Forward

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to earn a livelihood, 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 local expert. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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