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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 assessment is based on research by scientists, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are being sold in ports across North Africa.

Great white sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which makes it illegal to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in just the past year.

Videos shared online showing protected sharks being landed at North African ports has been independently verified.

One piece of footage showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The project head, explained that many shark species – white sharks in particular – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other body of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been growing... and it's possible that they will vanish in the foreseeable future."

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

In their latest attempt to find and study the predators, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

One key aim of their expedition 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 chum – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any specimens.

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

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been taken in a North African fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that shark was caught by accident in fishing gear, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, estimates 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.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with local partners, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Documentation shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation are complicated. Currently, 24 threatened species have global 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 returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from country to country.

A marine advocate noted that his own investigation found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

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

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen 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 assist and guide them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species."

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

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