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

This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They report that various at-risk marine animals – like the great white shark – are found on sale in ports across North Africa.

Great white sharks are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which makes it illegal to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists found that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in the single year of 2025.

Videos shared online showing sharks under protection being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

One video showed a sizeable great white shark being pulled from a boat from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. Additional footage, recorded in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what looks like a mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, explained that many shark populations – particularly great whites – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other body of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been growing... and it's possible that they will vanish in the near future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now classified as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their latest attempt to find and study the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

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

To try this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of bait – including baitfish and 500 litres of fish 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 did not manage to find any animals to tag.

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

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

As the team searched for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a young great white shark had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that specimen was caught by accident in fishing gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, estimates that more than 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 local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have treaty-based safeguards – including mako, angel, threshers 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 states "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from one place to another.

A expert noted that his own investigation found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to feed their family, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they need food for their children?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you support them and train them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

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

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