The Riverton resident and veteran recreational fisher said he had seen a "ten-fold" increase in sharks in the channel since MPI prevented fishermen from processing recreational catches at sea.
A 21-year-old woman was attacked by a sevengill shark while wading in the estuary’s knee deep water in the early hours of the morning 10 days ago.
Mr Parker believed sharks were swimming closer to shore more often because they were attracted to the fish scraps and offal.
It was mainly seven-gill sharks that were being spotted.
"You’re catching Rig Shark right up to the narrows nowadays and that’s a thing you never caught before.
"Shark is your cleaner ... the shark is the main predator of cleanup."
Coastguard volunteer Ray Lindsay said he thought the law needed to be reversed.
MPI rules demanded fishermen returned to shore with Blue Cod catches in a measurable state — preventing filleting at sea.
"The law is dumb," he said.
Before the law changed, everything was finished at sea and nothing went back into the tide to attract sharks, he said.
Former Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash made the change, coming into law from July 1, 2020.
Recreational fishers had to land blue cod catches in a measurable state (gutted, but whole) unless it was to be immediately eaten on the fishing vessel — forcing fishers to process their catches close to, or onshore.
Mr Parker, who had been fishing in the region for more than 50 years, said the river and the estuary were returning to its 1970s state when people were disposing of fish offal into the river.
"The river was full of all fish species, sharks and everything, then it became a clean swimmable river. Now ... you have to look out for the dangers of it."
"Put the waste in the deep water where it belongs — that is the only solution."
Public rubbish bins around the seaside township, including outside shops and children’s playgrounds reeked of rotting fish offal by the time the rubbish trucks arrived to empty the bins on Monday.
Installing fish offal disposal bins at the bridge jetty was also not an answer as they would attract rats, cats and flies, he said.
Meanwhile, Mel Heddershaw, the mother of the shark attack victim, was asking for restraint after a shark was slaughtered and left to rot on a Southland beach last week.
A social media post said she did not believe the shark was connected to her daughter’s attack.
"We in no way blame the sharks for doing what sharks do. It is simply an unfortunate situation that my daughter found herself in ..."
By Toni McDonald
