Last week, the National and Act voted down the Green Party coleader's proposed Marine Animals Protection Law Reform Bill.
Prof Slooten said the move left endangered marine mammals such as New Zealand sea lions and Hector's dolphins, and vulnerable sea birds such as albatross, without protection.
Mrs Turei, who is based in Dunedin, said the opposition was irrational as it could threaten wildlife and jobs.
Dunedin National MP Michael Woodhouse said improving existing laws was the best way to protect marine wildlife and promote a sustainable fishing industry.
Prof Slooten said she had expected the Bill, which was drawn from the members' ballot, would go through to the select committee stage and was surprised when National and Act voted as a block to kill it.
‘‘It doesn't look very good for National and Act,'' Prof Slooten said.
‘‘We are literally talking about the deaths each year of thousands of animals, including . .. about 1000 fur seals and several thousand sea birds.
‘‘It looks bad for a country, which prides itself on a clean, green image.
‘‘As the wildlife capital of New Zealand we should definitely be concerned about this.''
Mrs Turei spent a year preparing her Bill, which she said was designed to ensure existing marine protection laws did just that.
‘‘At present there are three pieces of legislation - the Wildlife Act, Marine Mammals Protection Act and Fisheries Act- which are inconsistent with each other,'' Mrs Turei said.
‘‘For example, sea lions are absolutely protected under the Wildlife Act, but the Fisheries Act allows for a certain number to be killed as fishery by-catch.
The Marine Mammals Protection Act allows for population management plans to ensure endangered species survive, but not one plan exists, she said.
‘‘The Bill would have clarified the law to ensure these tools were used.''
Otago Peninsula wildlife tourism is very important to Dunedin, bringing an estimated $100 million a year in to the regional economy and supporting the equivalent of up to 1000 full-time jobs, Mrs Turei said.
‘‘Albatross are one of the animals my Bill was designed to protect. If we lose them it will have a huge impact.
‘‘That was another reason their opposition was weird - there are jobs in it; it's not as though it was only about marine wildlife.''
Mr Woodhouse said National was ‘‘not unsympathetic'' to the goals of Mrs Turei's Bill but had concerns it ‘‘would have imposed unacceptably heavy costs on marine mammal management''.
The government intended to review the existing laws ‘‘with the aim of making them work better''.
‘‘Sustainability will underpin all of the actions we take inrespect of the New Zealand fishery, including the health of the wider ecosystem such as marine wildlife.''
