'We should thin them out': Fishermen claim there's a PLAGUE of sharks in idyllic Whitsundays - as MP calls for the 'apex predators' to be culled

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A federal politician has called for a shark cull after a doctor died and another man was mauled in attacks this week. 

LNP Member for the Queensland seat of Hinkler, Keith Pitt, said more shark nets and drumlines were not adequate measures and contractors should be given open permits to hunt the animals.

'I've had the local fishos telling me the sharks are in plague proportion… They are an apex predator and we should thin them out,' Mr Pitt told The Courier-Mail. 

A federal politician has called for shark culls after a brutal shark attack in Cid Harbour led to the death of 33-year-old doctor Daniel Christidis (pictured) 

Former assistant trade and tourism minister Keith Pitt (pictured) said that more shark nets and drumlines were not adequate measures 

'Preventing people from being eaten while going for a swim is the kind of thing governments are meant to get right,' he said.

The call follows the two most recent shark attacks off the coast of Ballina and northern Queensland as well as two attacks that occurred last month in northern Queensland within 24 hours of each other.

On Monday, a brutal shark attack in Cid Harbour led to the death of 33-year-old Daniel Christidis, an aspiring Melbourne cancer specialist, who was one of 10 doctors taking part in a five-day sailing holiday around the Whitsunday islands when he was attacked about 5.30pm.

The attack was in the same area where 12-year-old Hannah Papps and Justine Barwick, 45, narrowly survived shark attacks within 24 hours of each other in mid-September.

On Wednesday, 43-year-old Lee Jonsson reportedly drove himself to hospital with a 20 centimetre gash on his leg after an attack at Shelly Beach in Ballina by what was reportedly a 2.6 metre great white shark.

Three sharks attacks occoured at Cid Harbour and one at Ballina in the last six weeks 

 Three of the attacks happened in the same stretch of water in the Whitsundays 

The attack was in the same area where 12-year-old Hannah Papps narrowly survived a shark attack in mid-September  

Justine Barwick, 45, also narrowly survived a shark attack within 24 hours of Hannah Papps at the same location 

The Queensland Liberal National Party has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the state's shark control program.

Tourism Minister Kate Jones, however, said they were sticking with their decision to not implement drumlines in the area and instead the Queensland Government has announced a 'roundtable' with scientists and tourism operators.

Ms Jones said on Wednesday that tourism operators 'want the opportunity to sit down with the scientific experts so they also understand the science more deeply.'

'Quite frankly, I'd much rather be on the side of listening to scientific experts than people throwing stones from the sidelines,' she said.

Queensland opposition leader Deb Frecklington said the roundtable was nothing more than a talkfest and called for drumlines to be rolled out at Cid Harbour, where three of the attacks took place, immediately.

Most recently, on Wednesday 43-year-old Lee Jonsson reportedly drove himself to hospital with a 20 centimetre gash on his leg after an attack at Shelly Beach in Ballina 

'Labor need to explain why one of the only areas of Queensland that does not have drum lines or netting is the Whitsundays where there have been three tragic shark attacks in six weeks,' she said.

'So it is borderline negligent that Annastacia Palaszczuk's only response to these terrible events in the Whitsundays is to call a meeting.'

Fisheries Minister Mark Furner, however, said due to the large supply of baitfish in the area drumlines were not an effective long term solution.

Warning signs are currently being installed around Cid Harbour.

Mr Jonsson was reportedly attacked by a 2.6 metre great white shark and managed to drive himself to hospital