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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean waters are on the verge of vanishing, with illegal fishing being a major contributor to their rapid population drop.

This finding is based on studies conducted by experts, who collaborated with an international conservation charity. They note that various at-risk marine animals – like the great white shark – are found on sale in marketplaces across Northern African nations.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which prohibits to catch them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists uncovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025.

Footage from social media showing endangered sharks being landed at North African ports has been authenticated.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being pulled from a boat from a vessel in Algeria. A separate video, recorded in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Final Refuge

The lead researcher, explained that many populations of sharks – white sharks in particular – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other body 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 likely that they will become extinct in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now designated 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 Strait of Sicily – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

A primary objective of their expedition was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used over three tons of fish bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of fish oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, sampling for DNA to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any specimens.

They captured only a brief glimpse of one shark on their submarine cameras.

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

During their search for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that specimen was caught by accident in nets or lines, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, believes that more than 40 great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The researchers, along with regional contacts, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation 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 "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale".

The agreement states "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from country to country.

A expert noted that his own inquiry found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to earn a livelihood, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

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

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

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