The Mediterranean’s great white population is at critical risk due to intense industrial fishing and weak enforcement of protections. Researchers reported at least 40 deaths in 2025 and found no great whites during a satellite-tagging attempt in the Strait of Sicily despite using more than three tons of bait. Illegal market sales have been filmed in Tunisia, underscoring ongoing illicit catches. Experts call for stronger enforcement, coordinated international monitoring and socioeconomic support for coastal communities to give the species a chance to recover.
Great White Sharks Teeter On The Brink In The Mediterranean — Researchers Warn Of Possible Extinction
GettyGreat white shark
Great white sharks are perilously close to disappearing from the Mediterranean Sea, researchers warn, after years of intensive industrial fishing and weak enforcement of protections.
Evidence Of a Rapid Decline
Conservation group Blue Marine Foundation describes the Mediterranean as one of the most heavily exploited fishing regions on Earth. Although protective measures have been in place since 2012, implementation gaps and limited monitoring mean protection is often ineffective. According to reports, at least 40 great white sharks were recorded dead in 2025 alone in the region.
GettyGreat white shark
Failed Tagging Effort Highlights Trouble
Dr. Francesco Ferretti, a lead researcher at Virginia Tech, and his team attempted a first-of-its-kind satellite-tagging expedition in the Strait of Sicily. Despite deploying more than three tons of fish bait—bait that should attract sharks from miles away—the team recorded no great white encounters, only a brief sighting of a blue shark on their underwater cameras.
“It’s disheartening. It just shows how degraded this ecosystem is,” Dr. Ferretti told the BBC.
Illegal Market Sales Underscore Ongoing Threats
Although an agreement between the European Union and 23 Mediterranean nations bans the retention, transhipment, landing, storage, display or sale of threatened species, footage has surfaced of a great white offered for sale at a fish market in Tunisia. Conservationists have also documented occasional sightings of great whites in other regional markets, indicating illegal catches continue.
Hasan Mrad/DeFodi Images News/GettyFish market in Tunisia
What Experts Recommend
Researchers and conservation groups say coordinated international action is needed. Key recommendations include stronger enforcement of existing bans, improved regional monitoring and data collection (including expanded tagging and aerial/satellite surveys), and targeted community support that provides fishers with sustainable alternatives.
“It shows that there is wildlife left,” said James Glancy of Blue Marine Foundation. “If we can preserve this, there is a chance of recovery.”
Supporting Coastal Communities
Sara Almabruk of the Libyan Biology Society emphasized that conservation must include practical support for local fishers. Training, financial assistance and alternative livelihood programs can reduce the incentive to catch and sell sharks illegally. As she asked, ‘Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they need food for their children?’ — underscoring that social and economic solutions are part of any conservation strategy.
Without swift and effective action across Mediterranean nations, scientists say it is plausible that great white sharks could become functionally extinct in this basin—an outcome that would signal severe ecosystem degradation with wide-ranging consequences.
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