Floating cocoons of sea lettuce were lodged between boats, underneath hulls and up against walls.
"Nobody wants to own the problem. The marina guys help as well but they can't be expected to do everything. It is just because of the marina and currents that we notice it more," he said.
Tauranga Bridge Marina manager Tony Arnold said it was the worst he had seen the sea lettuce since the marina opened 18 years ago and it was "an absolute nightmare".
"We have islands floating around the marina that are as big as speed boats. They are very weighty and get stuck in the corner of structures and put extra stress on them."
"It stinks and blocks things up."
Staff had spent a couple of hours daily "pushing and pulling and smashing them up" trying to get rid of it, but the task was difficult, he said.
"You can't move them against the tide because they are too big and heavy. They are sinking and actually causing boats to hit the bottom."
"The fact of the matter is to do it properly we have to get the owners to take their boats out of the way."
However, Mr Arnold wanted the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to consider getting in a contractor as the harbour was a Coastal Marine Area and he feared there may be an incident.
"They should probably get rid of it because if a boat was going fast and hit a big lump under the surface it could cause serious injury."
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Tauranga Harbour principal adviser Bruce Gardner said current Fisheries Legislation prohibits it from contracting the removal of sea lettuce from the water.
"Work is currently limited to removing large build-ups of decaying sea lettuce from busy foreshore areas. The council has an on-going programme of work in place to improve understanding of sea lettuce and nutrient dynamics in the harbour and to reduce nutrient inputs to the harbour from land-based activities."
In the 2013/14 season 280 tonnes of sea lettuce were removed from the foreshore compared with 1213 tonnes in 2012/13.
The council, in conjunction with Tauranga City Council, spent over $45,000 each during those time frames on contractors. Most of the sea lettuce was taken to the Te Maunga composting facility or spread as mulch on local orchards.
So far for the 2014/15 season it had received five complaints about sea lettuce with smell and decay the overriding factors but records had not been kept for previous years.
Ministry for Primary Industries fisheries management director Dave Turner said sea lettuce could be harvested without restriction as long as it was not taken for the purpose of sale otherwise a fishing permit was required.
University of Waikato Professor Chris Battershill said Tauranga Harbour was prone to sea lettuce but it could be controlled.
"One possible method would be to have controlled aquaculture with regular removal that would strip excess nutrients out of the harbour. This would of course need to be done in a manner that didn't create a visual disturbance and in a way that didn't hinder other harbour uses."
It was a "a tall order", he said.
"For it to be a commercial reality, there would need to be some assurance the productivity levels would need to be maintained even in non-blooming years. There would need to be a number of legislative considerations also. A possible link to this would be to have pondage systems complimenting production."