THE fourth Australian in eight months to fall victim to giant sharks died at the weekend, raising fears that laws protecting sharks are endangering swimmers.

Geoffrey Brazier, 26, the skipper of a luxury charter vessel, was snorkeling with tourists off the Abrolhos Islands, about 300 miles north of Perth, when he was attacked by a 20ft shark. His remains have not been found.

In July a surfer was bitten in half off Perth in Western Australia. In December a spearfisherman on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland bled to death from a shark bite. In an attack a few days later, a schoolboy was pulled off his surfboard by two sharks as he was towed behind a boat.

Fishermen face a fine of up to A$48,000 (£20,000) for killing a shark because in the past species have been threatened with extinction. The latest fatality is expected to ignite debate over whether this rule is making some Australian beaches too dangerous for swimmers. It is thought that either a great white or a tiger shark was responsible for the latest attack.

Passengers who had paid up to A$12,000 each for the 12-day cruise on Mr Brazier’s boat returned to shore last night. The tourists were sailing from Perth to the Kimberley area of Western Australia’s far north coast aboard the Matrix, an ocean- going catamaran that was on her maiden voyage when the shark attacked.

“They’re obviously very distressed at this particular time and we need to speak to them about the circumstances of the attack,” Sergeant Shaun Miller, a police spokesman, said.

The 80ft vessel had moored close to the southeast corner of Pelsaert Island, which is part of the Abrolhos group. The islands are popular with divers because of the wreck of the Dutch ship Batavia, which sank in l629 and which lies in 18ft of clear water. Although sharks have been spotted on occasion in the area, it is believed to be the first fatal attack there.

Greg Davis, of the Geraldton Fishermen’s Association, many of whose members live and work in the islands, said that they were shocked. “I’ve been going to the islands since I was born 42 years ago and it’s the first time there’s been a fatal shark attack as far as I’m aware in that time,” he said.

“You see a shark or two, but it’s par for the course because they live there in the deep water.”

There have been several near-fatal shark attacks in the past few months off Western Australia.

The increase in the number of deaths caused by shark attacks is more worrying because until recently the national average was about one a year. In the past two centuries just over 190 people were killed by sharks, according to records kept since shortly after the arrival of Europeans on Australian soil. The latest fatality is likely to prompt further public debate about the wisdom of protecting a species that appears to be posing a serious threat to human life. Under Australian law, fisheries experts are permitted to kill sharks believed to have been responsible for attacks on human beings.

Rory McAuley, a Western Australia Fisheries officer, said that it was important to hunt down the shark believed to have killed Mr Brazier to ensure that it posed no continuing threat to public safety.

Some marine conservationists argue that because the ocean is sharks’ natural home, they have as much right to be there as human bathers.

Shark attacks worldwide rose to 61, with seven fatalities, last year, up from 57 in 2003. In 2002, 63 people were attacked. The International Shark Attack Files said that attacks were at their highest between 1980 and 1990, with 481 incidents.

SHARK VICTIMS

• April 2004, Maui, Hawaii: Willis McInnis, 57, a surfer, bleeds to death in Hawaii’s first fatal shark attack since 1992

• July 2004, Perth, Australia: Brad Smith, 29, a surfer, bitten in half in an attack by two sharks, one “as wide as a car”

• August 2004, San Francisco: Randy Fry, 50, a diver, disappears in shark attack. Only fragments of wetsuit recovered

• November 2004, Fish Hoek, South Africa: Tyna Webb, 77, a swimmer, circled and then killed by a shark

• December 2004, Cairns, Australia: Mark Thompson, 38, a spear-fisherman, bleeds to death after being savaged by a shark

• December 2004, Adelaide: Nick Petersen, 18, a surfer, attacked by two sharks while riding a board behind a boat

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