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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a key factor to their alarming decline.

This assessment is based on studies conducted by experts, who worked alongside an ocean protection organization. They note that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are found on sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which renders it unlawful to fish for them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, investigators uncovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

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

One video showed a big shark being pulled from a boat from a vessel in an Algerian port. A separate video, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Final Refuge

The principal scientist, clarified that many populations of sharks – particularly great whites – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other sea is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's likely that they will go extinct in the coming years."

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

In their new mission to find and study the sharks, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

An important goal of their mission was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a great white – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try 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 smell from hundreds of metres away.

After two weeks of work – chumming the water, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been captured and killed in a regional fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that shark was ensnared unintentionally in nets or lines, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, calculates that in excess of 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 scientists, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are multifaceted. Currently, two dozen endangered species have treaty-based safeguards – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.

An regional treaty states that those species cannot be "kept on boats, transferred, landed, stored, or sold".

The agreement specifies "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for unintentional catch and implementation differs from one place to another.

A expert noted that his own inquiry 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 life remaining," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a chance of recovery."

Possible Solutions

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to feed their family, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back 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 white sharks."

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

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