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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean waters are in danger of disappearing, with poaching being a key factor to their alarming decline.

This assessment is based on studies conducted by experts, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They indicate that various at-risk marine animals – like the great white shark – are found on sale in marketplaces across the North African coast.

These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which prohibits to catch them or to sell them.

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

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

One video showed a sizeable great white shark being dragged onto land from a trawler in an Algerian port. Another, recorded in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, explained that many shark species – particularly great whites – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other sea is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's plausible that they will go extinct in the coming years."

The Mediterranean white shark population is now listed as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their latest attempt to find and study the predators, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

One key aim of their mission was to attach a satellite tag onto a great white – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try this, the researchers used a large amount of bait – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can sense from far off.

After two weeks of work – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any specimens.

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

"It's disheartening," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how degraded this marine environment is."

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also learned that a small great white had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that animal was accidentally caught in nets or lines, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, estimates 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.

Sharks for Sale

The researchers, along with local partners, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have treaty-based safeguards – like makos 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 specifies "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle accidental bycatch and implementation differs from one place to another.

A expert 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 being found in markets.

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

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to earn a livelihood, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you assist and guide them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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