The Western Australian Government has announced it will catch and kill sharks that come too close to popular beaches.

Premier Colin Barnett has announced a $6.85 million package of what it refers to as "shark mitigation" strategies.

It includes $2 million to be allocated for the Department of Fisheries to track and destroy sharks that pose a risk to swimmers.

Another $2 million will be spent tracking great whites and setting drum lines to kill them if they come too close to shore.

Additional funds will be used for research, to trial a beach enclosure and purchase jet skis.

Mr Barnett says the new measures follow an unprecedented five fatal shark attacks within 12 months in WA.

"Over a hundred year period there were 12 shark fatalities. Over the last 12 months there have been five," he said.

"Clearly something has changed and we need to take greater care.

"These new measures will not only help us to understand the behaviour of sharks but also offer beachgoers greater protection and confidence as we head into summer."

Previously the Fisheries Department had only sought to kill the animals after an attack.

'No difference'

The WA Wilderness Society says it has little confidence that destroying sharks close to shore will make a long-term difference.

Spokesman Peter Robertson says the number of attacks is a serious concern but pre-emptive culling is not the answer.

"We need to have a much more sophisticated understanding of sharks in particular and the marine environment generally before we think these sorts of stop gap solutions are going to be of any long term use," he said.

"We just can't go out there and kill every shark."

Shaun Collin from the University of WA's Ocean Institute says the extra $4 million going towards research and tagging is great news.

He says the focus should always be on stopping sharks from approaching the shore, rather than killing them.

"The idea of deterring sharks is really where we'd like to put all our energies and believe that's where it should be," he said.

"We think that either by way of personal deterrent or a beach based deterrent, we are able to deflect the migration patterns of these predatory species."