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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with poaching being a significant driver to their alarming decline.

This finding is based on research by scientists, who partnered with an ocean protection organization. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are appearing for sale in fish markets across the North African coast.

These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which prohibits to fish for them or to offer them for sale.

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

Videos shared online showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been confirmed.

A particular clip showed a big shark being pulled from a boat from a trawler in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Final Refuge

The project head, clarified that many populations of sharks – white sharks in particular – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other sea is fished like 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 population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now classified as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their most recent effort to track and analyze the animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

A primary objective of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a white shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used over three tons of fish bait – including baitfish and 500 litres of fish oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Despite working for two weeks – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any specimens.

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

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

During their search for surviving sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been taken in a regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

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

The team, however, calculates 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 researchers, along with local partners, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including the region.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complicated. Currently, numerous species have global protection – including mako, angel, threshers 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 unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address accidental bycatch and compliance varies from nation to nation.

A expert noted that his own investigation 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 hope for revival."

The Path Forward

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the dilemma 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 provide alternatives and education in more responsible fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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