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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 assessment is based on studies conducted by experts, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are found on sale in marketplaces across the North African coast.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which makes it illegal to catch them or to offer them for sale.

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

Videos shared online showing endangered sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been independently verified.

One piece of footage showed a sizeable great white shark being dragged onto land from a trawler in Algeria. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Last Shark Stronghold

The lead researcher, clarified that many populations of sharks – great whites especially – had declined dramatically 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 effects of large-scale fishing has been intensifying... and it's possible that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future."

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

In their most recent effort to locate and research the sharks, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

A primary objective of their expedition was to deploy a tracking device 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 fish bait – including frozen fish parts and hundreds of liters of tuna oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Even after a fortnight of effort – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to look for genetic material 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 cameras.

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

As the team searched for surviving sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been captured and killed in a regional fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that animal was caught by accident in gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, believes that in excess of 40 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 team, along with colleagues in North Africa, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation are complicated. Currently, numerous species have global protection – like makos 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 incidental capture and implementation differs from nation to nation.

A conservationist noted that his own research found a number of sharks 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 animals still there," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a possibility of comeback."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen 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 need food for their children?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you assist and guide them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

An advocate added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope."

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