Great White Sharks Face Extinction in the Mediterranean, Scientists Warn

The iconic great white in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an international conservation charity. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great white sharks are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which renders it unlawful to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists found that at least 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025.

Videos shared online showing endangered sharks being brought dead into 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. Another, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what is believed to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Last Shark Stronghold

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 exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been growing... and it's likely that they will vanish in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now classified as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their latest attempt to locate and research the sharks, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area known as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their project was to attach a satellite tag onto a white shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used over three tons of fish bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of tuna oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Despite working for two weeks – baiting the ocean, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any sharks to tag.

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 ecosystem is."

While the team was searching for remaining sharks, they also were informed that a young great white shark had been captured and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that shark was accidentally caught in gear, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, estimates that in excess of 40 great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Sharks for Sale

The researchers, along with local partners, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The rules that protect sharks are multifaceted. Currently, numerous species have global protection – including mako, angel, threshers 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 alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and implementation differs from one place to another.

A conservationist noted that his own investigation found several great whites 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 life remaining," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities 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 need food for their children?" asked a local expert. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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