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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean Sea are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a key factor to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who worked alongside an ocean protection organization. They note that some of the most threatened species – such as the great white – are appearing for sale in marketplaces across Northern African nations.

These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, scientists found that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been killed there in just the past year.

Social media clips showing endangered sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been confirmed.

A particular clip showed a sizeable great white shark being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in Algeria. A separate video, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The project head, stated that many shark species – great whites especially – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other sea is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been intensifying... and it's likely that they will vanish in the near future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now listed as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their most recent effort to track and analyze the sharks, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area considered a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

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

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including baitfish and a substantial volume of scent oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to look for genetic material and using underwater cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag.

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 damaged this ecosystem is."

During their search for surviving sharks, they also received reports that a young great white shark had been taken in a North African fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

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

The team, however, calculates that over forty great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are observing various harbors in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

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

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

The agreement mandates "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from country to country.

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry found a number of 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 safeguard this, there is a possibility of comeback."

Possible Solutions

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to feed their family, 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 provide alternatives and education in more selective fishing, they will not catch these sharks."

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

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