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

This conclusion is based on studies conducted by experts, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They note that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are being sold in ports across North Africa.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which prohibits to target them or to trade them.

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

Social media clips showing endangered sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been independently verified.

One piece of footage showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a vessel in Algeria. Another, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what is believed to be a mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Last Shark Stronghold

The principal scientist, stated that many shark species – great whites especially – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other stretch of water is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been intensifying... and it's possible that they will become extinct in the near future."

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 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 attach a satellite tag onto a great white – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of bait – including frozen fish parts and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Despite working for two weeks – baiting the ocean, sampling for DNA to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any sharks to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile 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 shark was accidentally caught in fishing gear, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, estimates that in excess of 40 great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Sharks for Sale

The scientists, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complicated. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

An international agreement 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 investigation found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

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

Possible Solutions

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to earn a livelihood, 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 regional marine biologist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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