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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with unlawful fishing practices being a key factor to their rapid population drop.

This assessment is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They note that several critically endangered species – such as the great white – are found on sale in marketplaces across Northern African nations.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 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 coastline of North Africa, scientists found that at least 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in just the past year.

Footage from social media showing endangered sharks being landed at North African ports has been authenticated.

One piece of footage showed a big shark being pulled from a boat from a vessel in Algeria. Additional footage, filmed in Tunisia, shows parts of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The principal scientist, explained that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

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

The Mediterranean white shark population is now listed as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their most recent effort to locate and research the sharks, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

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

To try this, the researchers used over three tons of bait – including baitfish and hundreds of liters of tuna oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Even after a fortnight of effort – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to search for shark DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any sharks to tag.

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

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

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

It is uncertain whether that specimen was accidentally caught in fishing gear, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, estimates that over forty 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 regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Documentation shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are multifaceted. Currently, numerous species have international legal protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, 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 specifies "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle unintentional catch and implementation differs from country to country.

A expert noted that his own investigation found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a possibility of comeback."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to provide for their families, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a regional marine biologist. "If you assist and guide them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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