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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean Sea are on the verge of vanishing, with poaching being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who worked alongside an marine preservation group. They note that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are being sold in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which renders it unlawful to target them or to trade them.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team found that at least 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025.

Videos shared online showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been independently verified.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being pulled from a boat from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what is believed to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

The project head, explained that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in recent 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 growing... and it's plausible that they will vanish in the near future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their new mission to locate and research the sharks, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area identified as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

A primary objective of their expedition was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a great white – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, collecting water samples to look for genetic material and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any animals to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been captured and killed in a regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that animal was accidentally caught in nets or lines, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, believes that over forty 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 local partners, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are complex. Currently, numerous 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 states "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and implementation differs from one place to another.

A expert noted that his own investigation found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

"It shows that there is life remaining," 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 decision of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a scientist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more responsible fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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