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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, 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 marine preservation group. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are found on sale in ports across the North African coast.

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

However, by surveying docks along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the research team found that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

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

A particular clip showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a trawler in an Algerian port. Another, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what looks like a mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The project head, clarified that many populations of sharks – great whites especially – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other body of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been growing... and it's plausible that they will vanish in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean white shark population is now listed as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their new mission to find and study the predators, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area identified as 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 never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of bait – including frozen fish parts and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using subsea cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any animals to tag.

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

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

During their search for remaining sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been taken in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that animal was accidentally caught in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, believes 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.

Protected Sharks Traded

The researchers, along with colleagues in North Africa, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including the region.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complicated. Currently, 24 threatened 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 states "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle accidental bycatch and compliance varies from one place to another.

A marine advocate noted that his own research found multiple white 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 preserve this, there is a hope for revival."

Possible Solutions

In economically challenged regions 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 release sharks into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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