The Great White Risk Disappearing in the Mediterranean, Scientists Report

These formidable predators in the Mediterranean Sea are on the verge of vanishing, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their rapid population drop.

This assessment is based on research by scientists, who partnered with an ocean protection organization. They note that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are appearing for sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which renders it unlawful to catch them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, investigators discovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in the single year of 2025.

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

One piece of footage showed a sizeable great white shark being hauled ashore from a trawler in an Algerian port. A separate video, filmed in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

The project head, stated that many shark species – particularly great whites – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other body of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been growing... and it's likely that they will become extinct in the coming years."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now designated as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their new mission to track and analyze the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area identified as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

An important goal of their project was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a white shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of chum – including baitfish and a substantial volume of fish oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been taken in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

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

The team, however, believes that over forty great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The team, along with local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including several North African nations.

The rules that protect sharks are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – like makos and hammerheads.

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

The agreement specifies "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and implementation differs from country to country.

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a possibility of comeback."

The Path Forward

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen 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 throw sharks back into the sea when they need food for their children?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you support them and train them in more selective fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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