The Great White Face Disappearing in the Mediterranean Sea, Experts State

These formidable predators in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with poaching being a significant driver to their alarming decline.

This finding is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who worked alongside an ocean protection organization. They note that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are found on sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which makes it illegal to catch them or to trade them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, scientists discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in the single year of 2025.

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

A particular clip showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a vessel in an Algerian port. Another, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The lead researcher, stated that many shark populations – particularly great whites – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other sea is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been intensifying... and it's possible that they will go extinct in the coming years."

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

In their most recent effort to track and analyze the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area identified as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

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

To try this, the researchers used a large amount of fish bait – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of fish oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

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

They captured only a fleeting sighting of one blue shark species 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 received reports that a young great white shark had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that specimen was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, calculates that over forty great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The scientists, along with local partners, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Documentation shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened 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 do not address incidental capture and implementation differs from country to country.

A expert noted that his own research found several great whites 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 animals still there," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a hope for revival."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishers 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 release sharks into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a local expert. "If you assist and guide them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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