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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 alarming decline.

This assessment is based on research by scientists, who worked alongside an international conservation charity. They report that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are being sold in marketplaces across North Africa.

Great whites are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which renders it unlawful to target them or to sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators found that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025.

Footage from social media showing protected sharks being landed at North African ports has been independently verified.

A particular clip showed a big shark being hauled ashore from a fishing boat in Algeria. A separate video, recorded in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The project head, clarified that many shark populations – great whites especially – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other body of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been growing... and it's plausible that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their latest attempt to find and study the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their mission was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

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

Even after a fortnight of effort – chumming the water, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any specimens.

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

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

While the team was searching for remaining sharks, they also learned that a small great white had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that specimen was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, calculates that more than 40 great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Sharks for Sale

The team, along with local partners, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have treaty-based safeguards – such as makos, angel sharks, 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 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 research found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a possibility of comeback."

Possible Solutions

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the decision 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 need food for their children?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you support them and train them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

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

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