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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean basin are in danger of disappearing, with poaching being a major contributor to their rapid population drop.

This assessment is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an marine preservation group. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are found on sale in fish markets across the North African coast.

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 monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists uncovered that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been caught and killed there in just the past year.

Videos shared online showing endangered sharks being brought dead into North African ports has been confirmed.

A particular clip showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a trawler in Algeria. Additional footage, recorded in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The lead researcher, clarified that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the past years.

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

The Mediterranean white shark population is now listed as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their latest attempt to find and study the sharks, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

One key aim of their project was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a great white – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used over three tons of fish bait – including baitfish and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any sharks to tag.

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

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

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also received reports that a juvenile great white had been captured and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that animal was caught by accident in nets or lines, or if it was targeted.

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.

Illegal Shark Trade

The researchers, along with local partners, are observing various harbors in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

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

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

The agreement specifies "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and implementation differs from nation to nation.

A marine advocate noted that his own research found several great whites 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 protect this, there is a hope for revival."

What Can Be Done?

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

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "If you support them and train them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species."

Another expert added that if countries around the Mediterranean collaborated, "there is hope."

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