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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are on the verge of vanishing, with illegal fishing being a major contributor to their alarming decline.

This conclusion is based on studies conducted by experts, who worked alongside an international conservation charity. They note that several critically endangered species – including great white sharks – are found on sale in fish markets across the North African coast.

These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which prohibits to target them or to sell them.

However, by surveying docks along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team found that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025.

Footage from social media showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been confirmed.

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

Last Shark Stronghold

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

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

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now designated as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their latest attempt to track and analyze the animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area known as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

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

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and hundreds of liters of fish oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can sense from far off.

After two weeks of work – chumming the water, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any animals to tag.

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 degraded this marine environment is."

As the team searched for living sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been taken in a regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that shark was caught by accident in gear, or if it was hunted.

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

Illegal Shark Trade

The scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.

An regional treaty states that those species cannot be "kept on boats, transferred, landed, stored, or sold".

The agreement mandates "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own research found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

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

What Can Be Done?

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they release sharks into the sea when they need food for their children?" asked a local expert. "If you support them and train them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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