WAILUKU >> A 20-year-old Maui fisherman is recovering after being bitten by an 8- to 10-foot tiger shark while he was trying to throw it back to sea.

The Maui News reports Michael Pollard received 38 stitches after he was bitten Tuesday morning in Lahaina.

Pollard says he should have cut the line when he hooked the shark but decided to bring it in.

He and a friend tried to push the shark back into the ocean.

Pollard says he was pushing the shark into the water when it started flailing and snagged his leg.

The bite left two semicircle marks on his left calf, which he wrapped with a tourniquet made from his sleeves.