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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean basin are facing a serious threat of extinction, with poaching being a key factor to their alarming decline.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They note that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are being sold in fish markets across North Africa.

Great whites are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which prohibits to catch them or to offer them for sale.

However, by surveying docks along the coastline of North Africa, the research team discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing protected sharks being landed at North African ports has been confirmed.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being pulled from a boat from a trawler in an Algerian port. A separate video, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Last Shark Stronghold

The lead researcher, stated that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

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

The Mediterranean white shark population is now designated as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their most recent effort to find and study the sharks, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their expedition was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

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

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, 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 disappointing," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this ecosystem is."

As the team searched for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – 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, estimates that in excess of 40 great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The team, along with regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have international legal 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 incidental capture and compliance varies from one place to another.

A expert noted that his own research found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign 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 chance of recovery."

The Path Forward

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they need food for their children?" asked a local expert. "If you support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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