Beaches remain closed on Sunday after Mercury Psillakis was attacked by a large shark at Long Reef Beach on Sydney's northern beaches.
The 57-year-old leaves behind a wife and young daughter.
"(Sunday) being father's day, it's particularly tragic," Police Superintendent John Duncan said.
The attack is believed to have happened about 100m offshore, with surfers pulling Mr Psillakis to shore.
Pieces of a surfboard were taken for examination as government shark biologists work to identify the species of shark involved.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said Mr Psillakis was an experienced surfer and part of Dee Why's surfing community.
"It's shocking for his family and for the people of the Northern Beaches," he told Sky News on Sunday.
Tributes flowed online, with one surfer saying Mr Psillakis would always welcome him with open arms when he travelled down to Sydney.
"Sincere condolences to his wife and family, you are forever in the surf riding your last wave," they said.
Another man said the Northern Beaches had been keyed for generations by tight groupings of surfing siblings.
"To lose such a keystone in Mercury in so radical a sudden way leaves anyone with sense of heritage stone cold heartbroken," he said.
The NSW government spends more than $21 million on its annual shark management program, with nets installed at 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong from the start of September.
Three councils, including the Northern Beaches Council, each asked to nominate a beach where nets could be removed.
The NSW government planned a trial of net-free beaches but Mr Minns said it stalled because agreement could not be reached on locations.
A decision on proceeding will not be made until after the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development reports back on Saturday's fatal shark attack, the premier said.
"This is a terrible event," Mr Minns said.
"It's quite rare in Sydney - this is the ... second fatal shark attack in 60 years."
Mr Minns provided no firm timeline for the report, saying he wanted to give investigators time to provide advice about whether the attack was likely to be a frequent occurrence or was an isolated event.
"We need to understand what happened and how it happened," he said.
The state's shark management plan also includes the use of drones to patrol beaches and drumlines to provide real-time alerts about sharks near the shore.
Long Reef Beach uses drumlines and does not have a shark net but nearby Dee Why Beach does.
Before Saturday's attack, the last shark-related fatality in Sydney occurred in February 2022, when British diving instructor Simon Nellist was taken by a great white off Little Bay in the city's east.
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