This British tourist was left shocked after the fish he was attempting to wrangle in was intercepted by a grey reef shark.

Jason Hillyard, Mark Slaughter and Sally Cobban were on holiday in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, when the incident occurred on April 3.

While searching for Kingfish, a school of sharks makes an appearance near the tourist's boat.

One of the predators, clearly not respectful of fishing claims, attacks Slaughter's fish and thrashes around in the water.

After eating half the fish, the shark swims away from the boat, only to return to finish the rest of the stolen catch.

Hillaryard writes: "[The sharks] were straight in to pinch our catch.

"They just tore these kingfish apart like butter."