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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 rapid population drop.

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

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

However, by surveying docks along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists discovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing endangered sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been confirmed.

One video showed a big shark being pulled from a boat from a trawler in an Algerian port. A separate video, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, stated that many shark populations – great whites especially – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other body of water is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been increasing... and it's plausible that they will become extinct in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now listed as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their new mission to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area considered a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

A primary objective of their expedition was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a great white – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used over three tons of bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of tuna oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, 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 short sighting of one blue shark species on their underwater cameras.

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

While the team was searching for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been captured and killed in a North African fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that specimen was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, calculates 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 monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – 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 are not designed for unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from one place to another.

A conservationist noted that his own research found multiple white sharks 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 safeguard this, there is a possibility of comeback."

Possible Solutions

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the choice 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 require sustenance for their families?" asked a scientist. "If you assist and guide them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

An advocate added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

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