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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They note that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are being sold in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which renders it unlawful to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the research team uncovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been killed there in the single year of 2025.

Social media clips showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

A particular clip showed a large great white being pulled from a boat from a vessel in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what is believed to be a mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Final Refuge

The lead researcher, stated that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – 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 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 classified as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their new mission to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "final refuge" 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 try this, the researchers used over three tons of chum – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of fish oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

After two weeks of work – chumming the water, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag.

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

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

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

It is unknown whether that specimen was caught by accident in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, calculates 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.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with regional contacts, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Findings shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are complex. Currently, 24 threatened species have international legal protection – like makos 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 do not address incidental capture and compliance varies from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a hope for revival."

The Path Forward

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to feed their family, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "If you support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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