Perth shark attack victim Ben Gerring put up the 'biggest fight for life doctors and nurses had seen for 20 years' but had finally surfed his last wave.

Touching tributes including a picture of Mr Gerring and his fiancée Jasmine Boyer kissing have been posted on Facebook following the death of the board rider, whose leg was torn off by a shark.

The 29-year-old was attacked at the popular Gearies break at Falcon Beach, 80km south of Perth, on Tuesday.

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Touching tributes including a picture of Ben Gerring and his fiancée Jasmine Boyer kissing have been posted on Facebook following the death of the board rider, whose leg was torn off by a shark

He died on Friday night in Royal Perth Hospital with his family by his side.

President of the Mandurah Boardriders Club Brian Williams on Saturday said his friend had lost a mammoth battle for life.

'Our mate Ben Gerring finally caught his last wave here on earth,' Mr Williams posted on Facebook.

'I know he is getting pitted off his head up there somewhere. I would like to give our heartfelt thoughts to Ben's family. RIP, forever surfing Benny.'

Ms Boyer who is expecting the couples first child posted a picture on Facebook on Saturday morning of them embracing in a kiss.

Mr Gerring's family said this week he had been afraid of sharks and would never have gone surfing if he had known of a Surf Lifesaving WA tweet warning that a large shark had been spotted in the area earlier that day.

His death is the first shark fatality in WA since December 2014, when spear fisherman Jay Muscat was killed by a four to five-metre great white near Albany.

Mr Gerring, 29, died in hospital on Saturday after a shark tore part of his leg off while he was surfing at a beach south of Perth only hours after reports of a great white shark lurking nearby

Mr Gerring's family thanked everyone involved in his rescue and treatment at Royal Perth Hospital in what was a difficult time.

'The bravery and efforts of his rescuers and the care provided by the doctors and nurses has been amazing,' the family said.

'We would also like to thank family and friends for their messages of love and support. They are greatly appreciated.'

Fellow surfers rushed into the surf to rescue Mr Gerring straight after the attack.

Mr Gerring (pictured) who had been expecting a child with fiancee Jasmine Boyer (right) was attacked at about 4pm on tuesday and a local shopkeeper said two men came frantically running from the sand asking for ice, claiming a surfer had his leg 'fully' bitten off

On Thursday a 4.2 metre great white shark was trapped and killed after it was caught on baited drum lines near where Mr Gerring was attacked.

Western Australia's Department of Fisheries set baited drum lines at 7am on Wednesday (WST) at the site of the attack to trap the shark as part of its controversial serious threat policy.

The department revealed that the shark was caught on Wednesday afternoon and died on the drum line. It was then towed out to sea and dumped after samples and measurements were taken.

He was pulled from the water at a popular surf break of Gearies near Falcon after a shark attacked him from behind just before 4pm.

Mr Gerring was pale and had lost a lot of blood by the time he was pulled on to shore by local surfers

Mr Gerring's family have thanked everyone involved in his rescue and treatment at Royal Perth Hospital in what was a difficult time.

Mr Gerring's fiancee Ms Boyer flew down from a WA mine.

'The bravery and efforts of his rescuers and the care provided by the doctors and nurses has been amazing,' the family said in a statement.

'We would also like to thank family and friends for their messages of love and support, they are greatly appreciated.'

A gofundme page set up for the Mandurah man has raised over $24,000 for the family which was set up to 'help Ben and Jas in any way possible'.

A 4.2 metre great white shark has reportedly been caught on drum lines near to where West Australian surfer Ben Gerring was attacked on Tuesday

Western Australia's Department of Fisheries set baited drum lines at 7am on Wednesday at the attack site

Shocked and distressed fellow surfers and friends, including those who pulled him out of the water, gathered on Wednesday morning at the closed beach.

Mr Gerring was described as a keen big wave surfer who had paddled out further and screamed for help before being dragged under the water.

His friend, Mandurah Boardriders Club president Brian Williams, was preparing to go for a surf when he noticed a commotion with about 15 surfers rushing back to shore and 'all hell broke loose' as a couple of men came out with Mr Gerring propped up on a board.

'They jumped to work straight away, it was pretty horrific to see someone you know in that predicament,' he told ABC radio.

'There are images there that are going to be pretty hard to get out of your mind for a while ... I've spoken to a lot of the guys that are struggling at the moment with the scenes they saw.'

Mr Gerring was given CPR for around 20 minutes on the sand and his severed leg was wrapped in a towel before two ambulances arrived and he was transported to hospital with life threatening injuries

Mr Williams described the efforts of those who had bravely rescued Mr Gerring as heroic.

Friends and surfers have rallied online, including Tarsh Wright Webster who posted: 'Praying very hard for you Ben. You are in the very best care at RPH (Royal Perth Hospital). Also to the people who rescued him, you are heroes. Well done.'

Fisheries Department regional manager Tony Cappelluti said the drum lines were set on Wednesday morning as per the WA government's serious threat policy.

The use of traps is controversial and was widely criticised on Wednesday, including by WA Greens MP Lynn MacLaren, University of Sydney lecturer Christopher Neff and Mr Williams, who said killing individual sharks did not make the ocean safer.

Mr Cappelluti defended Fisheries' warning systems.