An eager Texas fisherman has been heavily criticised online after a monster four-metre great hammerhead shark he reeled in died.

Poco Cedillo shared a series of images of the big catch on Facebook, which took him 75 minutes to get to shore.

After leading the huge shark onto the beach, Mr Cedillo and other anglers noticed it was becoming tired and say they simply got a picture before releasing it back into the ocean.

But their attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, and the shark died.

The worldwide population of hammerhead sharks is decreasing, and some species are deemed vulnerable or are protected in the US.

While some people praised the men for trying to save the shark, others were quick to criticise them.

"You should have let it go long before it was that tired, there is really no reason to fishing for shark other than your own self-satisfaction," one woman wrote on Mr Cedillo's Facebook post.

"Hammerheads are protected. Why didn't you cut him/her lose the minute you knew it was a shark?" another said.

In a message sent to local media, Mr Cedillo said he had no intention to kill the shark.

Not wanting it to go to waste, the fishermen cooled the shark down and donated the shark meat to Good Samaritan Rescue Mission.

Newshub.