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

This finding is based on research by scientists, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in ports across Northern African nations.

These sharks are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to sell them.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators uncovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in just the past year.

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

One piece of footage showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a trawler in an Algerian port. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Last Shark Stronghold

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

"No other stretch of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been increasing... and it's plausible that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now classified as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their latest attempt to track and analyze 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.

A primary objective of their expedition was to deploy a tracking device onto a white shark – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of fish bait – including baitfish and hundreds of liters of fish oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Despite working for two weeks – chumming the water, sampling for DNA to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any specimens.

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

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

During their search for surviving sharks, they also received reports that a small great white had been caught and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that shark was caught by accident in fishing gear, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, believes that over forty great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Protected Sharks Traded

The scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Documentation shows that protected sharks are captured, brought to port, and sold in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, 24 threatened species have international legal protection – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.

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

The agreement specifies "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for incidental capture and implementation differs from country to country.

A conservationist noted that his own research found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"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 throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a local expert. "If you assist and guide them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

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

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