Seal Rocks and Fingal Bay also rank in the top 10. 

The data, compiled from the Global Shark Attack File by online comparison site Finder.com.au, shows there have been 295 unprovoked shark attacks - 122 in NSW - since 1990, with 42 fatalities nationally.

Byron Bay has had 12 incidents and two fatalities over the past 26 years - although that tally will nudge  to 13 after Monday's encounter left 36-year-old Jade Fitzpatrick with lacerations to his leg.

Ballina, also in far northern NSW, is next most prolific for reported shark incidents, with six people bitten and one fatality, data show. Lennox Head, also in the region, is ranked equal-fifth with three events.

A spate of bites - including three over the past month - has prompted the state government to drop its opposition to the introduction of shark nets. Such mesh as been in place at beaches from Wollongong to Newcastle, including Sydney beaches, during summer months for years, even decades.

Even with the nets, however, Sydney beaches are prominent on the list of shark incident sites. 

Sydney Harbour is ranked third on the nation's list, with five events, while Bondi Beach came in equal fifth, also with three incidents. None of the eight led to fatalities.

Mona Vale on Sydney's northern beaches made the list. 

Only three other states had sites that made it to the list, with Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia leading those with four incidents, including two fatalities.Only three other states had sites that made it to the list, with Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia leading those with four incidents, including two fatalities.

WA, though, recorded 17 deaths from sharks since 1990, the most among the states and territories, and almost triple the six deaths in NSW over the period, the data shows.

Among the other individual locations, Victoria's Bells Beach and South Australia's Middleton Beach, both popular sites for surfers, rounded out the top 13 shark bite hot spots. 

While surfers are often the victims of bites, they are not necessary fans of shark culls or even nets.

Mr Fitzpatrick, the victim of Monday's incident, told Seven News that he "was just happy to be alive" but saw no need for nets.

"They're just going to whack nets up - it feels like a kneejerk reaction [to the recent incidents]," he said, adding that "we don't need to kill s--- to make people feel better."

Mr Fitzpatrick also objected to the use of "by-catch" to describe the animals caught in the shark nets.

"They call it by-catch to make you not feel bad that a dolphin or a whale has tangled in the net and died," he told Channel Seven. "A beautiful marine creature's dead just we want to feel a bit safe."

By number of incidents, Queensland ranks second with 60 events, edging WA with 59.

Victoria recorded 16 shark bites with no fatalities over the past 26 years, while Tasmania had two deaths among the five incidents, the data showed.