KEY POINTS:
National leader John Key has called for limits on commercial crab pots at popular beaches over the summer, saying they act as "human berley" by attracting sharks to swimming areas.
Mr Key, who has a holiday home at Omaha, said regulations should be introduced so Ministry of Fisheries
officers could stop high-volume use of commercial crab pots on heavily used beaches during the peak summer period in case they attracted sharks.
His call follows an attack this week by a shark on an inflatable boat carrying two lifeguards who were trying to herd it out to sea at Omaha.
The shark - now believed by experts to be a tiger shark - was thought to have gone into the bay in pursuit of a school of mullet.
But Mr Key said residents approached him late last month concerned that a fisherman was regularly setting about 40 crab pots.
They feared this would act as an invitation for feeding sharks to come to Omaha and had noticed an increase in shark reportings during the past two summers when crab pots were set.
Mr Key said Ministry of Fisheries officials should be able to issue "cease and desist" orders to commercial crab pots on popular beaches as a precaution against attracting sharks.
"These guys are putting raw offal into dozens of crab pots and we are wondering why sharks are turning up? We are effectively laying human berley. It is an accident waiting to happen and my guess is it's not unique to Omaha. It must happen at other places."
Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton dismissed Mr Key's call, saying his ministry and the Department of Conservation had told him there was no evidence crab pots attracted more sharks than would otherwise be there.
Sharks came into shallow waters to breed and feed over summer and it would be irresponsible and futile to prevent crab potting.
"It wouldn't make any difference and it would be idiotic to give people a false sense of security by saying it was safe to swim because there were no [crab] pots."
John Key's call was backed by Pumpkin Patch owner Greg Muir, who has owned a holiday home at Omaha for seven years, and Daniel Baturic, president of Orewa's Surf Life Saving Club, who said sharks seemed more prevalent when pots were in the area.
Mr Muir said a new fisherman had been setting about 40 pots in the area over the past two years.
"Sometimes there are 30 or 40 pots out," he said.
"It seems very strange someone is allowed to put bait in pots in those kind of volumes with swimmers so close.
"I fully understand the guy has got to earn a living and has invested in his boat and his pots, but he could make his living in less popular swimming places and at other times."
Local diver and underwater photographer Reid Quinlan also said the bronze whaler population was increasing, and they were spotted by spearfishers every week.
He said spearfishing and crab pots were to blame for attracting the sharks close in to land, and the sharks frequently stole bait from dive floats and spears.
The ministry's inshore fisheries manager John Taunton-Clark said he would track down the fisherman in question and explain the residents' concerns, but was powerless to do any more.
