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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean basin are facing a serious threat of extinction, with illegal fishing being a major contributor to their alarming decline.

This assessment is based on studies conducted by experts, who worked alongside an international conservation charity. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are found on sale in marketplaces across the North African coast.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which makes it illegal to catch them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the research team discovered 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 brought dead into North African ports has been authenticated.

One piece of footage showed a sizeable great white shark being pulled from a boat from a vessel in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The principal scientist, clarified that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"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 likely that they will become extinct in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now classified as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their latest attempt to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

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

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including frozen fish parts and a substantial volume of fish oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Despite working for two weeks – baiting the ocean, sampling for DNA to search for shark DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag.

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

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

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

The team, however, believes that over forty great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The researchers, along with local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have international legal protection – like makos 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 mandates "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address unintentional catch and compliance varies from nation to nation.

A expert noted that his own research found a number of 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 animals still there," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to provide for their families, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they need food for their children?" asked a scientist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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