Great White Sharks Risk Extinction in the Mediterranean, Scientists Warn

Great white sharks in the Mediterranean waters are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They note that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are appearing for sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which prohibits to catch them or to trade them.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators found that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing protected sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been independently verified.

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

Final Refuge

The lead researcher, clarified that many shark species – white sharks in particular – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other stretch of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been intensifying... and it's likely that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean white shark population is now classified as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their new mission to find and study the animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area known as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their mission was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of bait – including frozen fish parts and hundreds of liters 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 test for environmental DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any animals to tag.

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

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

During their search for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a young great white shark had been captured and killed in a North African fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

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

The team, however, believes that more than 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 regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Findings shows that endangered sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, 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 alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A expert noted that his own investigation found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to provide for their families, or return a threatened species 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 support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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