🔗 Share this article These Apex Predators Risk Vanishing in the Mediterranean Sea, Experts State Great white sharks in the Mediterranean waters are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their rapid population drop. This finding is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who worked alongside an marine preservation group. They indicate that several critically endangered species – such as the great white – are appearing for sale in fish markets across Northern African nations. These sharks are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to offer them for sale. However, by surveying docks along the coastline of North Africa, the research team discovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in the single year of 2025. Researchers and advocates say they have observed protected species for sale in fish markets in several countries. Videos shared online showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been independently verified. One piece of footage showed a big shark being hauled ashore from a vessel in Algeria. Another, recorded in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a species at risk. Remaining Habitat The experts worked from a ship in the area near Sicily. The lead researcher, explained that many shark species – great whites especially – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in recent decades. "No other body of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been growing... and it's plausible that they will vanish in the foreseeable future." The Mediterranean great whites is now listed as Critically Endangered by the key international body. In their most recent effort to locate and research the predators, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species. An important goal of their mission was to deploy a tracking device onto a white shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea. To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including baitfish 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 – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to test for environmental DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag. They captured only a brief glimpse of one blue shark species on their underwater cameras. "It's disappointing," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this ecosystem is." During their search for remaining sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – just not far from where they were working. It is not clear whether that shark was ensnared unintentionally in nets or lines, or if it was hunted. The team, however, calculates that over forty great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized. Illegal Shark Trade An investigation in North African markets in 2023 discovered endangered sharks being offered for sale. The team, along with local partners, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Findings shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including several North African nations. The rules that protect sharks are complex. Currently, 24 threatened species have global protection – like makos and hammerheads. An international agreement states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale". The agreement states "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from country to country. The researchers used special cameras to survey the region. A marine advocate noted that his own investigation found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale. "It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a hope for revival." What Can Be Done? In poorer communities in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to feed their family, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean. "Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch these sharks." A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean collaborated, "there is hope." "But," he stated, "we've got to act very quickly."