Shark Dive New Zealand owner Peter Scott said he was ''very ... nervous'' about the effect the stand-off between the paua industry and Stewart Island residents and shark divers would have on his business.
''We applied for our permit in August and it's supposed to be a 20-day process and it went on and on and on and on,'' he said.
''We thought we were going to be dished out a permit on the 1st of December and we had no reason to think we weren't.''
His concerns were echoed by Shark Experience operator Mike Haines, who said he had lost about 30 customers and almost $15,000 in revenue as a result of not being issued a permit to shark cage dive.
From October 1, commercial cage dive operators had to apply for a permit under the Wildlife Act to dive with great white sharks.
Mr Scott said he believed the permits were certain until ''the paua industry launched a big smear campaign''.
''We have got a business sitting here ready to go that we have had for the last seven years with no problem,'' he said.
PauaMac5 chairman Storm Stanley said his organisation, which represents the industry, wanted to see greater guarantees of safety provided by shark cage divers operating in the area.
More than 130 Stewart Island residents added their voice to the debate and had signed a letter of complaint which was sent to the Conservation Minister.
''The issue was bigger than just protecting paua divers, and a change in shark behaviour was a threat to all Stewart Islanders who use the area,'' he said.
''We urge the Minister for Conservation to take the locals' concerns seriously and reiterate that the minister should withhold the permits for a year to allow time for this to be sorted out properly.''
Mr Scott said he felt the paua industry was being disingenuous and paua divers ''hate the things with a vengeance''.
''The issue is they do not want us there.''
Department of Conservation spokesman Rory Newsam said Doc had told cage diving operators a decision on the permits would be made in early December, but made no guarantee of a date.
''The Department of Conservation is making the decision on shark cage diving permits and intends to publicly release its decision by the end of the week,'' he said.
''The Minister of Conservation will be briefed on that decision.''
Doc had been consulting Stewart Islanders since October and had received 23 submissions on the issue.
He could not provide a breakdown of those for and against the permits being issued.
A spokesman for Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said she was aware of the issue.
However, the decision about the permits would be made by the director-general of Doc.
