Supporters of a ban on shark viewing tours say they are not anti-business.

“;We just don't want them to keep feeding the sharks,”; said Mahina Chillingworth, vice president of Hui O He'e Nalu, which sponsored a rally yesterday at Haleiwa Harbor.

“;When you feed the sharks, you are altering their natural habitat,”; she said.

“;We know that everyone has to work. We support their business, but we just don't want them to continue to feed the sharks to attract them,”; she said.

However, Joe Pavesk, owner of North Shore Shark Adventures, countered by sending out a news release saying that his operation is not a threat to public safety.

“;It has become inconceivable to me as to how uneducated people can be. North Shore Shark Adventures has been in business for nine years with a clean safety record,”; he said, noting that a study done by University of Hawaii researchers showed there has been no increase in shark attacks on the North Shore since the tours began.

Pavesk added that he is allowed to feed sharks in federal waters three miles offshore as long it is done in conjunction with scientific research, which he has been doing with the UH Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology for the past three years. Those opposed to shark feeding criticized North Shore Sen. Robert Bunda and Rep. Michael Magaoay for trying to exempt North Shore shark tour operators from bills in the Legislature that would have banned shark tours.

“;The neighborhood board supported the shark tours and the North Shore chamber supported them,”; Magaoay said, adding that he feels it would be unfair, and possibly expose the state to liability, if the Legislature passed a bill to shut down an existing, legal business.

Chillingworth said they gathered 1,000 signatures of community members who want shark tour operations ended in the waters of Haleiwa before the rally and were able to obtain several hundred more yesterday.

“;The surf capital of the world is on the North Shore of Oahu and these legendary surf waters should not be tainted by the continual illegal feeding of sharks for commercial exploitation,”; supporters said in a news release.