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These formidable predators in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with unlawful fishing practices being a major contributor to their alarming decline.

This assessment is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They report that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are being sold in ports across North Africa.

Great white 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 monitoring fishing ports along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, scientists found that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been killed there in just the past year.

Videos shared online showing endangered sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

One piece of footage showed a sizeable great white shark being pulled from a boat from a trawler in an Algerian port. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The principal scientist, clarified that many populations of sharks – great whites especially – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in recent 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 coming years."

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

In their latest attempt to track and analyze the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

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

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of fish bait – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

After two weeks of work – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any specimens.

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

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

As the team searched for remaining sharks, they also learned that a juvenile great white had been taken in a North African fishery – just not far from where they were working.

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

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.

Sharks for Sale

The scientists, along with local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, two dozen endangered species have international legal protection – including mako, angel, threshers 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 specifies "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from one place to another.

A conservationist noted that his own investigation found a number of 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 wildlife left," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to earn a livelihood, 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 local expert. "If you assist and guide them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

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

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