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

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They note that various at-risk marine animals – including great white sharks – are found on sale in marketplaces across North Africa.

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 sell them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team found that at least 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 independently verified.

A particular clip showed a sizeable great white shark being pulled from a boat from a fishing boat in Algeria. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a short-finned 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 suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the past years.

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

The Mediterranean great whites is now designated 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 sharks at risk.

An important goal of their expedition was to attach a satellite tag onto a great white – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To try this, the researchers used over three tons of fish bait – including baitfish and a substantial volume of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

After two weeks of work – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any specimens.

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

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

As the team searched for living sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that specimen was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, estimates that in excess of 40 great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with colleagues in North Africa, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

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

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

The agreement states "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle accidental bycatch and implementation differs from one place to another.

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a chance of recovery."

Possible Solutions

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishermen who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to earn a livelihood, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

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

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

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