Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are on the brink of vanishing forever, with illegal fishing operations driving their rapid decline. This alarming finding comes from new research by scientists from the United States, conducted in collaboration with the UK's Blue Marine Foundation.
Protected Sharks Sold in Fish Markets
The research team discovered that some of the sea's most threatened shark species, including the iconic great white, are being illegally caught and sold in fish markets across North Africa. Great whites are among more than 20 shark species in the Mediterranean that are protected under international law, making it illegal to fish for them or trade their parts.
By monitoring fishing ports along the North African Mediterranean coast, researchers confirmed that at least 40 great white sharks were killed there in 2025 alone. This shocking figure highlights the scale of the illegal activity threatening these ancient predators.
Social Media Footage Provides Evidence
The BBC has independently verified social media footage showing protected sharks being brought dead into ports in North Africa. One video from Algeria captures a large great white shark being hauled ashore from a fishing boat. Another clip, filmed in Tunisia, shows the heads and fins of what appears to be a short-finned mako shark—another threatened and protected species—being prepared for sale.
Lead researcher Dr. Francesco Ferretti from Virginia Tech in the US explained that many shark populations, especially white sharks, have seen a dramatic decline in the Mediterranean in recent decades. "No other stretch of water is fished like the Mediterranean Sea," Dr. Ferretti told the BBC News science team while working from a research vessel off Sicily in late 2025. He warned that the intensifying impact of industrial fishing makes it "plausible that they will go extinct in the near future."
A Critical Mission in the Last Stronghold
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature now classifies the Mediterranean great white shark population as Critically Endangered. In a desperate bid to study and save them, Dr. Ferretti's team focused their latest efforts on the Strait of Sicily. This area, between Sicily and North Africa, is considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several threatened shark species.
A key goal of their 2025 mission was to fit a satellite tracking tag on a great white shark—a feat never before accomplished in the Mediterranean. To attract the elusive predators, the scientists used over three tonnes of fish bait, including a shipping container full of frozen mackerel and tuna scraps, along with 500 litres of tuna oil to create a scent trail detectable from hundreds of metres away.
The findings present a stark warning: without immediate and stringent enforcement of protection laws and a crackdown on illegal trade, the Mediterranean could lose its great white sharks forever, causing irreversible damage to the marine ecosystem.
