A TIGER shark measuring more than 4m has been caught at Trinity Beach as new figures show a spike in sharks caught in nets and drumlines off Cairns.

Seventy-one sharks, including 29 tiger sharks, were snared in Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries nets and drum lines between July 2007 and June 2008.

The nets and baited lines are 500m offshore at beaches including Clifton, Trinity, Ellis and Holloways, Palm Cove and Buchan Point.

The catch included a 4.2m tiger shark snagged at Trinity Beach on June 28.

"It'd be over 250kg," Shark Catch Program manager Tony Ham told The Cairns Post.

"That was a big shark."

Mr Ham said tiger sharks were among the ocean's most dangerous predators, but the risk of attack was low.

"You do need to exercise some caution about when and where you swim," he said.

The catch is a 40 per cent increase on the 51 sharks caught in 2006-07.

"It's a big year for rain up there," Mr Ham said.

"They get a lot of murky water after heavy rain, so they move around looking for food and there's a far greater chance of finding them in the inshore after heavy rain."

Mr Ham warned swimmers, wind and kitesurfers to avoid waters near shark catch equipment, where metres of chain and net up to 180m long could snare the unwary as well as sharks.

"Sharks in drum lines don't always die quickly so it might pose a danger," he said. "They tend to be a bit aggressive when they're caught."

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