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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean waters are facing a serious threat of extinction, with illegal fishing being a key factor to their alarming decline.

This conclusion is based on studies conducted by experts, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They note that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

These sharks are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which renders it unlawful to target them or to trade them.

However, by surveying docks along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists discovered that at least 40 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 big shark being dragged onto land from a vessel in an Algerian port. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what looks like a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Final Refuge

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

"No other sea is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's likely that they will go extinct in the near future."

The Mediterranean white shark population is now designated as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their latest attempt to track and analyze the sharks, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area considered a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

A primary objective of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has remained unachieved 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 "scent trail" that many sharks can sense from far off.

After two weeks of work – chumming the water, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using underwater cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any sharks to tag.

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

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

As the team searched for living sharks, they also learned that a small great white had been captured and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

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

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

Sharks for Sale

The team, along with local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Findings shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, numerous species have international legal 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 are not designed for unintentional catch and compliance varies from country to country.

A marine advocate noted that his own investigation 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 life remaining," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

The Path Forward

In less affluent areas 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 release sharks into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "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."