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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a key factor to their alarming decline.

This finding is based on studies conducted by experts, who partnered with an ocean protection organization. They indicate that several critically endangered species – including great white sharks – are appearing for sale in ports across North Africa.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which prohibits to catch them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, investigators found 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 endangered sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been confirmed.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being pulled from a boat 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 protected and endangered species.

Remaining Habitat

The principal scientist, explained that many shark species – great whites especially – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other stretch of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been growing... and it's plausible that they will vanish in the coming years."

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

In their latest attempt to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area known as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their mission was to deploy a tracking device onto a great white – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of fish oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for remaining sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been taken in a North African fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that specimen was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, calculates that in excess of 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 scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including the region.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complex. Currently, 24 threatened species have global protection – 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 mandates "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and implementation differs from country to country.

A conservationist noted that his own inquiry found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign 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 hope for revival."

The Path Forward

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to provide for their families, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they release sharks into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

An advocate added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

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