🔗 Share this article The Great White Are on the Brink of Extinction in the Mediterranean, Scientists Warn Great white sharks in the Mediterranean basin are on the verge of vanishing, with unlawful fishing practices being a significant driver to their rapid population drop. This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They note that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in fish markets across the North African coast. Great whites are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which prohibits to catch them or to offer them for sale. However, by monitoring fishing ports along the coastline of North Africa, scientists found that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in just the past year. Experts say they have observed safeguarded animals for sale in fish markets in North Africa. Social media clips showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been authenticated. One video showed a sizeable great white shark being hauled ashore from a vessel in Algeria. Additional footage, recorded in Tunisia, shows parts of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a threatened and protected species. Final Refuge The scientific team worked from a ship in the Sicily Strait. The project head, explained that many shark species – particularly great whites – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the last few decades. "No other stretch of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been increasing... and it's possible that they will go extinct in the foreseeable future." The Mediterranean white shark population is now designated as Critically Endangered by the key international body. In their latest attempt to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area known as a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species. 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 bait – including frozen fish parts and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can sense from far off. Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to test for environmental DNA and using subsea cameras – the researchers did not manage to find any sharks to tag. They captured only a brief glimpse of one shark on their submarine cameras. "It's discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this habitat is." During their search for living sharks, they also received reports that a young great white shark had been caught and killed in a fishery off North Africa – just not far from where they were working. It is not clear whether that animal was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was hunted. The team, however, believes that more than 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 An investigation in North African markets in recent years discovered endangered sharks being sold. The researchers, along with regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are taken and traded in countries including the region. The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, numerous species have global protection – like makos and hammerheads. An regional treaty states that those species cannot be "kept on boats, transferred, landed, stored, or sold". The agreement states "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address unintentional catch and compliance varies from nation to nation. The researchers used baited underwater cameras to survey the region. A expert noted that his own inquiry found several great whites 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 protect this, there is a hope for revival." The Path Forward In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the dilemma 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 sustainable fishing, they will not catch white sharks." A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope." "But," he continued, "we've got to act very quickly."