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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean waters are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They report that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are found on sale in ports across North Africa.

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

However, by observing harbors along the coastline of North Africa, investigators uncovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in the single year of 2025.

Footage from social media showing protected sharks being landed at North African ports has been confirmed.

A particular clip showed a sizeable great white shark being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in Algeria. Another, filmed in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The principal scientist, clarified that many shark species – great whites especially – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other body of water is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been growing... and it's possible that they will become extinct in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean white shark population is now designated as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their latest attempt to find and study the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

One key aim of their mission was to deploy a tracking device onto a great white – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

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

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any animals to tag.

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

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

During their search for remaining sharks, they also learned that a young great white shark had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that animal was accidentally caught in gear, or if it was targeted.

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

Protected Sharks Traded

The researchers, along with local partners, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – like makos and hammerheads.

An regional treaty 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 alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for unintentional catch and compliance varies from one place to another.

A expert noted that his own investigation found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a hope for revival."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to provide for their families, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

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

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

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