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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean Sea are facing a serious threat of extinction, with poaching being a key factor to their worrying decrease.

This assessment is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They indicate that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are being sold in marketplaces across the North African coast.

These sharks 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 observing harbors along the coastline of North Africa, the research team discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in the single year of 2025.

Videos shared online showing sharks under protection being landed at North African ports has been authenticated.

One video showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a vessel in Algeria. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

The project head, stated that many shark species – great whites especially – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other stretch of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been intensifying... and it's likely that they will go extinct in the near future."

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

In their most recent effort to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

A primary objective of their mission was to attach a satellite tag onto a white shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including baitfish and hundreds of liters of fish oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Even after a fortnight of effort – chumming the water, collecting water samples to test for environmental DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any animals to tag.

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

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

During their search for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a young great white shark had been caught and killed in a North African fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that animal was ensnared unintentionally in fishing gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, believes that more than 40 great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "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. Evidence shows that protected sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including several North African nations.

The rules that protect sharks are multifaceted. 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 specifies "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address unintentional catch and implementation differs from nation to nation.

A conservationist noted that his own investigation found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

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

The Path Forward

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to earn a livelihood, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "If you provide alternatives and education in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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