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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean basin are on the verge of vanishing, with poaching being a major contributor to their alarming decline.

This finding is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They report that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are appearing for sale in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great white sharks are one of in excess of 20 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 found that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in just the past year.

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

A particular clip showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a trawler in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what looks like a mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Remaining Habitat

The principal scientist, explained that many populations of sharks – great whites especially – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"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 go extinct in the foreseeable future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their most recent effort to locate and research the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area considered a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

An important goal of their mission was to deploy a tracking device onto a white shark – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of fish bait – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of tuna oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, sampling for DNA to look for genetic material and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.

They captured only a short sighting of one shark on their submarine cameras.

"It's discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how depleted this marine environment is."

While the team was searching for remaining sharks, they also learned that a young great white shark had been caught and killed in a regional fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is uncertain whether that specimen was ensnared unintentionally in gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, estimates 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 researchers, along with regional contacts, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Evidence shows that endangered sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

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

An multinational pact states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale".

The agreement mandates "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for unintentional catch and compliance varies from country to country.

A expert noted that his own research found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

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

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to earn a livelihood, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

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

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean collaborated, "there is hope."

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