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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.

This finding is based on studies conducted by experts, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are found on sale in marketplaces across Northern African nations.

Great white sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which prohibits to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by surveying docks along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team uncovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025.

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

A particular clip showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a trawler in an Algerian port. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Final Refuge

The principal scientist, clarified that many shark species – great whites especially – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other stretch of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been intensifying... and it's likely that they will vanish in the near future."

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

In their most recent effort to track and analyze the predators, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area known as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

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

To attempt this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

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 specimens.

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

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

As the team searched for living sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been captured 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 fishing gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, believes that in excess of 40 great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with colleagues in North Africa, are observing various harbors in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are complicated. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

An international agreement 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 unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and enforcement is variable from country to country.

A marine advocate noted that his own research found a number of sharks 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 poorer communities in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to provide for their families, 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 assist and guide them in more selective fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

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