The 33-year-old tourist died after being bitten on his left thigh, right calf and wrist while he was in the water near a chartered yacht just after 5.30pm on Monday.

A woman and girl were seriously injured in two separate shark maulings at the same location in September, prompting authorities to install temporary drumlines, which were removed after catching six sharks in a week.

Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the state government was taking advice from locals, including the council and Tourism Whitsundays, which said they would prefer not to have drumlines.

"They're making this case because they don't want to give a false sense of security to tourists that the whole of the Whitsundays would be safe," she said.

"We need to be mindful that this is their habitat and we need to make sure that when we are swimming in their habitat that we are mindful of the risks."

Ms Jones said experts believed drumlines were not a long-term solution for the Whitsundays.

"We are talking about a very vast area and certainly I would hate that the message got out there that it was safe to swim in the Whitsundays when we can't guarantee their safety," she said.

Ms Jones said Tourism Whitsundays was working closely with tourism operators to make sure tourists were briefed about the risks of sharks.

"We're working with yacht charters to make sure that they are providing that advice to tourists about the risks of swimming at dawn or dusk and in Cid Harbour," she said.

Ms Jones said her thoughts and prayers were with the man's family.

"It's heartbreaking to see another tragedy like this," she said.

It comes after Whitsundays MP Jason Costigan (LNP) called for drumlines to be immediately and permanently installed in Cid Harbour.

"What are they waiting for? Another attack? Another death?" he asked.

"I don't profess to an expert in sharks but what I do know is human life should come before sharks every day of the week and public safety is of paramount importance.

"I don't want our tourism industry going down the toilet and out the back door."

Mr Costigan said there needed to be a frank and open discussion between the tourism and fishing industries, scientists and shark experts about "where we go from here".

He said he believed it was the first fatal shark attack in the Whitsundays in recorded history.

"We don't need a review, if you want a review, go to Broadway," Mr Costigan said.

"Get on with it."

Mr Costigan said Queensland's shark control program was in place in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and the Gold Coast, but there were no protections in place on the Whitsundays.

Late last week, a petition with 782 signatures was tabled in the Queensland Parliament calling for the government to immediately stop using shark nets and drum lines to stop the "carnage" inflicted by the shark control program.

"Non-lethal water safety programs including the use of ocean pools, dedicated shark spotters and digital shark monitoring are proven to protect both humans and sharks," the petition read.

But Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said the shark control program's aim was to make beaches a safer place for people to swim.

"The Queensland government will not compromise human safety and continues to support the shark control program with its combination of shark nets and drumlines at 86 of Queensland's most popular beaches," he wrote in his reply.

Since the shark control program started in 1962, there has been one shark fatality at a shark control beach in Queensland.

Mr Furner's office was contacted for comment.