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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are facing a serious threat of extinction, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their rapid population drop.

This finding is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an international conservation charity. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – are being sold in marketplaces across the North African coast.

These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which prohibits to catch them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the research team found that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

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

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

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, clarified that many shark species – particularly great whites – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other body of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been growing... and it's plausible that they will vanish in the coming years."

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

In their latest attempt to track and analyze the sharks, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

One key aim of their project was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a white shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of chum – including baitfish 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 – laying bait, collecting water samples to test for environmental DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.

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

"It's discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this marine environment is."

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been captured and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just not far 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 taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Evidence shows that endangered sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including the region.

The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, 24 threatened species have treaty-based safeguards – 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 tackle unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A conservationist noted that his own inquiry found a number of sharks 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 safeguard this, there is a hope for revival."

What Can Be Done?

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to earn a livelihood, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they release sharks 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 protected species."

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

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