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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean waters are facing a serious threat of extinction, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.

This assessment is based on studies conducted by experts, who worked alongside an ocean protection organization. They report that several critically endangered species – including great white sharks – are being sold in ports across North Africa.

Great white sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which renders it unlawful to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team discovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been killed there in just the past year.

Videos shared online showing endangered sharks being landed at North African ports has been confirmed.

A particular clip showed a sizeable great white shark being hauled ashore from a trawler in Algeria. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, clarified that many populations of sharks – white sharks in particular – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

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

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

In their latest attempt to find and study the sharks, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

One key aim of their project was to attach a satellite tag onto a great white – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including baitfish and a substantial volume of tuna 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, collecting water samples to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any animals to tag.

They captured only a short sighting of one blue shark species on their cameras.

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

As the team searched for remaining 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 uncertain whether that shark was caught by accident in fishing gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, believes that in excess of 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 scientists, along with local partners, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are complex. Currently, 24 threatened species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

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

The agreement states "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.

A expert noted that his own inquiry found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

"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 poorer communities in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a scientist. "If you assist and guide them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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