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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a major contributor to their rapid population drop.

This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They note that various at-risk marine animals – like the great white shark – are being sold in marketplaces across the North African coast.

Great whites are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which makes it illegal to catch them or to trade them.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators uncovered that at least 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 confirmed.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being hauled ashore from a fishing boat in Algeria. Another, recorded in Tunisia, shows parts of what is believed to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The principal scientist, stated that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other sea is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been increasing... and it's likely that they will go extinct in the coming years."

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

In their new mission to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

One key aim of their expedition was to attach a satellite tag onto a white shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

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

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, collecting water samples to test for environmental DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any sharks to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also received reports that a young great white shark had been taken in a regional fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that animal was ensnared unintentionally in fishing gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, calculates 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 regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have treaty-based safeguards – including mako, angel, 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 do not address accidental bycatch and implementation differs from nation to nation.

A expert noted that his own research found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the choice 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 assist and guide them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope."

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