🔗 Share this article

The iconic great white in the Mediterranean waters are on the verge of vanishing, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their alarming decline.

This assessment is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an international conservation charity. They report that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – 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 makes it illegal to fish for them or to offer them for sale.

However, by surveying docks along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators uncovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been authenticated.

One video showed a sizeable great white shark being pulled from a boat from a fishing boat in Algeria. Another, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what is believed to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

The project head, stated that many shark populations – particularly great whites – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other stretch of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been growing... and it's possible that they will become extinct in the foreseeable 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 animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area considered a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

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

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

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using underwater cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any specimens.

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

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

As the team searched for living sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that shark was caught by accident in nets or lines, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, believes that more than 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 team, along with colleagues in North Africa, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, numerous species have global protection – like makos 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 mandates "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address incidental capture and enforcement is variable from country to country.

A marine advocate 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 turning up for sale.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a hope for revival."

What Can Be Done?

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision 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 must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "If you support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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