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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with poaching being a significant driver to their rapid population drop.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who collaborated with an ocean protection organization. They note that various at-risk marine animals – like the great white shark – are being sold in fish markets across Northern African nations.

Great whites are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which prohibits to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team uncovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in just the past year.

Social media clips showing sharks under protection being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

One piece of footage showed a big shark being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. Another, recorded in Tunisia, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Remaining Habitat

The lead researcher, explained that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other stretch of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's plausible that they will vanish in the coming years."

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

In their most recent effort to find and study the animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area considered a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

An important goal of their mission was to attach a satellite tag onto a great white – something that has not yet been accomplished in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of chum – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of scent oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

Despite working for two weeks – laying bait, sampling for DNA to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter 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 ecosystem is."

As the team searched for living sharks, they also were informed that a young great white shark had been captured and killed in a regional fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that specimen was accidentally caught in fishing gear, or if it was targeted.

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.

Sharks for Sale

The scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Documentation shows that protected sharks are taken and traded in countries including the region.

The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, numerous species have international legal protection – like makos 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 address accidental bycatch and implementation differs from country to country.

A conservationist noted that his own research found several great whites on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were appearing in trade.

"It shows that there is animals still there," he said. "And if we can safeguard this, there is a chance of recovery."

Possible Solutions

In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishermen 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 require sustenance for their families?" asked a local expert. "If you provide alternatives and education in more responsible fishing, they will not catch white sharks."

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

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