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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are facing a serious threat of extinction, with poaching being a key factor to their alarming decline.

This finding is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They indicate that several critically endangered species – such as the great white – are found on sale in fish markets across the North African coast.

Great whites are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which renders it unlawful to catch them or to sell them.

However, by surveying docks along the coastline of North Africa, the research team uncovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

Footage from social media showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been independently verified.

A particular clip showed a sizeable great white shark being hauled ashore from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. A separate video, recorded in Tunisia, shows parts of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The project head, clarified that many shark populations – particularly great whites – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other sea is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been growing... and it's likely that they will vanish in the near future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now classified as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their latest attempt to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

One key aim of their expedition 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 more than three tonnes of chum – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Even after a fortnight of effort – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to look for genetic material and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any animals to tag.

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

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

During their search for remaining sharks, they also received reports that a young great white shark had been taken in a North African fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

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

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.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complicated. Currently, numerous species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

An multinational pact states that those species cannot be "kept on boats, transferred, landed, stored, or sold".

The agreement states "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and compliance varies from country to country.

A conservationist noted that his own inquiry 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 wildlife left," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishers 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 discard their catch into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch white 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."