These Apex Predators Are on the Brink of Extinction in the Mediterranean Sea, Scientists State

Great white sharks in the Mediterranean basin are facing a serious threat of extinction, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their rapid population drop.

This finding is based on research by scientists, who worked alongside an marine preservation group. They report that several critically endangered species – including great white sharks – are being sold in fish markets across North Africa.

These sharks are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators discovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

Videos shared online showing protected sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been authenticated.

A particular clip showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in Algeria. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what is believed to be a short-finned mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Final Refuge

The project head, stated that many shark species – great whites especially – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other sea is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been growing... and it's plausible that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now designated as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their new mission to find and study the animals, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

A primary objective of their expedition was to attach a satellite tag onto a shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try this, the researchers used over three tons of chum – including frozen fish parts and a substantial volume of tuna oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

After two weeks of work – baiting the ocean, sampling for DNA to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for remaining sharks, they also learned that a young great white shark had been taken in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that shark was accidentally caught in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, calculates that more than 40 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 regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Evidence shows that endangered sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including the region.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

An international agreement states that those species cannot be "kept on boats, transferred, landed, stored, or sold".

The agreement states "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own investigation found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining 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."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to earn a livelihood, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a scientist. "If you support them and train them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

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