The Department of Conservation (Doc) has confirmed that a formal written warning has been sent to an Australian company after it tested a shark repellent device in New Zealand waters in April.
Its device, Surfsafe, sends an electric current to deter predatory sharks up to 6m away but that testing, and Doc's low-key reaction, has shocked a shark tourism operator.
''It is a slap on the hand with a wet bus ticket,'' Andria Scott, who, with her husband Peter, runs Shark Dive New Zealand, said.
The Dunedin couple are now considering legal action against the department.
Doc confirmed a permit had been issued, under the Wildlife Act (1953), to ''research the effectiveness of a shark-repellent device''.
However, that activity prompted a complaint from the Scotts, who turned down an approach from the Australian company to help test the product earlier this year.
''It's not really in our business to scare sharks away,'' Mr Scott said.
Attempts to contact the Australian company, which distributes the devices via a Dunedin representative, have been unsuccessful.
The Otago Daily Times understands the permit application from the company was received by Doc on April 1, but was granted on May 8, weeks after the experiment.
In April, Mr Scott saw a Stewart Island-based boat at one of his company's dive sites, and ''it was clear what they were up to''.
''They had an electrical cables in the water, they had half a surfboard, a long white tube with cables connected to it and sharks swimming around their boat.
Evidence of that dive was sent to Doc, which told the couple there was a ''lack of evidence'', Mr Scott said.
Last month, the Otago Daily Times approached the department to ascertain details of that permit and investigation.
A Doc spokesman confirmed ''there was a lack of evidence to take the matter further''.
''However, the department gave the complainant the opportunity to provide more evidence and has subsequently carried out more inquiries, which has led to a formal written warning''.
Doc scientists had assessed the activities and ''these were deemed to have a low impact on great white sharks''.
Mrs Scott said Doc, by appearing to issue a retrospective permit, was covering itself.
''It seems like a total cover-up.''
