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Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with poaching being a key factor to their alarming decline.

This conclusion is based on studies conducted by experts, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They indicate that several critically endangered species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in ports across North Africa.

Great white sharks are one of over twenty Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which renders it unlawful to fish for them or to sell them.

However, by surveying docks along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, investigators 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 brought dead into North African ports has been independently verified.

A particular clip showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a vessel in Algeria. Another, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what is believed to be a mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Final Refuge

The lead researcher, stated that many shark populations – particularly great whites – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other body of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been increasing... and it's possible that they will vanish in the coming years."

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

In their most recent effort to track and analyze the animals, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.

An important goal of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a white shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used more than three tonnes 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 smell from hundreds of metres away.

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

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

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

As the team searched for surviving sharks, they also were informed that a small great white had been captured and killed in a North African fishery – just not far from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that animal was ensnared unintentionally in nets or lines, or if it was hunted.

The team, however, calculates 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.

Protected Sharks Traded

The scientists, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Findings shows that endangered sharks are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are multifaceted. Currently, numerous species have treaty-based safeguards – like makos and hammerheads.

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

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

A marine advocate noted that his own research 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."

What Can Be Done?

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

"Why would they release sharks 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 protected species."

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

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