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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean waters are facing a serious threat of extinction, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their rapid population drop.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are found on sale in ports across North Africa.

These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to catch them or to trade them.

However, by surveying docks along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists uncovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

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

One video showed a sizeable great white shark being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in Algeria. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what is believed to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Final Refuge

The project head, clarified that many populations of sharks – 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 effects of large-scale fishing has been intensifying... and it's plausible that they will go extinct in the coming years."

The Mediterranean white shark population is now designated as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their new mission to find and study the animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

One key aim of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a great white – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used over three tons of fish bait – including baitfish and hundreds of liters of tuna oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Despite working for two weeks – chumming the water, collecting water samples to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any sharks to tag.

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

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

As the team searched for living sharks, they also learned that a juvenile great white had been taken in a North African fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that shark was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, believes that over forty 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 local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The rules that protect sharks are multifaceted. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – including mako, angel, 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 alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A expert noted that his own research found several great whites 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, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to provide for their families, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they need food for their children?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you support them and train them in more selective fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

An advocate added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope."

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