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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean basin are facing a serious threat of extinction, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They note that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are appearing for sale in marketplaces across the North African coast.

Great white sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which prohibits to target them or to trade them.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the coastline of North Africa, investigators found that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing protected sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been independently verified.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being pulled from a boat from a vessel in an Algerian port. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, clarified that many shark species – particularly great whites – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other sea is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been intensifying... and it's plausible that they will become extinct in the coming years."

The Mediterranean great whites 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 identified as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their expedition 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 a large amount of fish bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and 500 litres of tuna oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

After two weeks of work – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to look for genetic material and using subsea cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any animals to tag.

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

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

As the team searched for living sharks, they also received reports that a juvenile great white had been captured and killed in a North African fishery – just not far from where they were working.

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

The team, however, believes 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 scientists, along with regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complicated. Currently, 24 threatened species have global protection – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.

An multinational pact states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale".

The agreement states "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 investigation found several great whites 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 protect this, there is a possibility of comeback."

What Can Be Done?

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to feed their family, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a scientist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope."

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