Great white sharks face extinction in Mediterranean, say researchers

Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing contributing to their decline.

This is according to research by US scientists, working in partnership with UK charity Blue Marine Foundation. They say some of the most threatened species - including great white sharks - are being sold in North African fish markets.

Great whites are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, meaning it is illegal to fish for them or to sell them.

By monitoring fishing ports on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, however, researchers discovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

Despite working for two weeks - baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras - the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag.

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

"It's disheartening," Dr Ferretti told us. "It just shows how degraded this ecosystem is."

While the team was searching for surviving sharks, they also received reports that a juvenile great white had been caught and killed in a North African fishery - just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that animal was accidentally caught in fishing gear, or if it was targeted.

Dr Ferretti and his team, though, estimate that more than 40 great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," he said.

In poorer communities in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to feed their family, or return a threatened species to the ocean.

Sara Almabruk from the Libyan Marine Biology Society says that most of the catches happening in North African waters are accidental, but adds: "Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they need food for their children?

"If you support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch white sharks – or any sharks."

James Glancy from Blue Marine added that if countries around the Mediterranean worked together, "there is hope.

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