Overview
- Virginia Tech and Blue Marine Foundation researchers estimate at least 40 great white sharks were killed this year in the Mediterranean.
- BBC forensic work and field checks documented protected sharks being landed and sold in North African ports, with verified videos from Algeria and Tunisia.
- A two-week search in the Strait of Sicily using baiting, underwater cameras, and eDNA found no great whites, underscoring detection gaps and low numbers.
- The IUCN lists the Mediterranean population as endangered and isolated from the Atlantic, with a 2024 estimate of up to about 250 individuals.
- Conservation groups call for rapid international cooperation, stronger enforcement, and support for sustainable fishing, noting many landings may be bycatch under economic pressure.