🔗 Share this article These Apex Predators Are on the Brink of Vanishing in the Mediterranean, Experts Report The iconic great white in the Mediterranean waters are on the verge of vanishing, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their rapid population drop. This assessment is based on research by scientists, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They report that several critically endangered species – including great white sharks – are being sold in ports across North Africa. These sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which renders it unlawful to fish for them or to sell them. However, by surveying docks along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, investigators found that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been caught and killed there in just the past year. Conservationists and scientists say they have documented protected species for sale in fish markets in several countries. Videos shared online showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated. One video showed a big shark being hauled ashore from a trawler in an Algerian port. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what looks like a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species. Remaining Habitat The scientific team worked from a vessel in the Sicily Strait. The lead researcher, clarified that many shark populations – white sharks in particular – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in recent decades. "No other stretch of water is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The effects of large-scale fishing has been increasing... and it's likely 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 most recent effort to locate and research the predators, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species. A primary objective of their project was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a white shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea. To do this, the researchers used a large amount of fish bait – including baitfish and hundreds of liters of scent oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can sense from far off. After two weeks of work – baiting the ocean, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any sharks to tag. They captured only a brief glimpse of one shark on their cameras. "It's discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how depleted this marine environment is." During their search for surviving sharks, they also learned that a small great white had been taken in a fishery off North Africa – just not far from where they were working. It is not clear whether that shark was ensnared unintentionally in nets or lines, or if it was deliberately caught. The team, however, calculates that over forty great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized. Sharks for Sale Research in Tunisia in recent years discovered protected sharks being traded. The team, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Findings shows that endangered sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria. The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have international legal protection – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads. An regional treaty states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale". The agreement specifies "they must be returned to the sea alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle accidental bycatch and compliance varies from nation to nation. The researchers used baited underwater cameras to look for sharks. A conservationist noted that his own investigation found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a seeming silver lining in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets. "It shows that there is animals still there," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a possibility of comeback." Possible Solutions In less affluent areas in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to provide for their families, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean. "Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a local expert. "If you provide alternatives and education in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species." Another expert added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope." "But," he stated, "we've got to act very quickly."