The Great White Face Extinction in the Mediterranean, Experts Warn

Great white sharks in the Mediterranean waters are on the verge of vanishing, with poaching being a key factor to their rapid population drop.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an ocean protection organization. They note that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are being sold in ports across North Africa.

Great white sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by surveying docks along the coastline of North Africa, investigators uncovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing endangered sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been authenticated.

One video showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a vessel in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what looks like a short-finned mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, explained that many shark species – particularly great whites – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few 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 intensifying... and it's likely that they will vanish in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now designated as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their most recent effort to find and study the predators, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

An important goal of their project was to attach a satellite tag onto a great white – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

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

Despite working for two weeks – laying bait, sampling for DNA to look for genetic material and using underwater cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any specimens.

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

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

As the team searched for surviving sharks, they also received reports that a juvenile great white had been captured and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that shark was ensnared unintentionally in fishing gear, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, believes that in excess of 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 researchers, along with colleagues in North Africa, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Documentation shows that protected sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are complicated. Currently, 24 threatened species have treaty-based safeguards – like makos 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 mandates "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own research found multiple white 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 wildlife left," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to provide for their families, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they release sharks into the sea when they need food for their children?" 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 joined forces, "there is hope."

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