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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean waters are facing a serious threat of extinction, with poaching being a major contributor to their rapid population drop.

This assessment is based on studies conducted by experts, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are appearing for sale in ports across North Africa.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which prohibits to catch them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

Videos shared online showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been confirmed.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being hauled ashore from a fishing boat in Algeria. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what looks like a short-finned mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Last Shark Stronghold

The principal scientist, explained that many populations of sharks – great whites especially – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other sea is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been increasing... and it's likely that they will vanish in the coming years."

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

In their new mission to track and analyze the sharks, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

A primary objective of their project was to attach a satellite tag onto a shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of fish bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of scent oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

After two weeks of work – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to test for environmental DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any specimens.

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

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

During their search for living sharks, they also learned that a juvenile great white had been captured and killed in a regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that animal was caught by accident in fishing gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, estimates that in excess of 40 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 keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, 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 specifies "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and enforcement is variable from country to country.

A expert noted that his own investigation found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishers 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 require sustenance for their families?" asked a local expert. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

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

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