Great White Sharks Face Vanishing in the Mediterranean, Scientists State

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

This assessment is based on studies conducted by experts, who worked alongside an international conservation charity. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in ports across the North African coast.

Great white sharks are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to trade them.

However, by observing harbors along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team found that no fewer than 40 great white sharks have been killed there in just the past year.

Footage from social media showing endangered sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been authenticated.

One video showed a sizeable great white shark being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows heads and fins of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Final Refuge

The project head, clarified that many populations of sharks – particularly great whites – had suffered a severe drop in the Mediterranean in recent decades.

"No other body of water is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's possible that they will become extinct in the near future."

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

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

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

To do this, the researchers used a large amount of chum – including frozen fish parts and a substantial volume of fish oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can sense from far off.

Even after a fortnight of effort – baiting the ocean, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any sharks to tag.

They captured only a brief glimpse of one blue shark species on their submarine cameras.

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

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

It is uncertain whether that animal was accidentally caught in gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, calculates that over forty great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The scientists, along with colleagues in North Africa, are keeping watch on multiple ports in the region. Findings shows that sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including the region.

The protective legislation are multifaceted. Currently, 24 threatened species have treaty-based safeguards – like makos 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 states "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and enforcement is variable from one place to another.

A conservationist noted that his own investigation 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 life remaining," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a chance of recovery."

Possible Solutions

In economically challenged regions 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 release sharks into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a scientist. "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 collaborated, "there is hope."

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