Blowes, now 32, asked several times for the tooth, which police had handed to the authorities.
"It was stuck in my board," Blowes said. "I would never kill a shark for its tooth but it took my leg [so] I can't see any reason why I can't have that.”
Blowes said he was keeping the tooth in a case at his house, and taking it to motivational talks he gave.
"It's a good souvenir to show my grandchildren," he said.
South Australia Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham said allowing Blowes to have the tooth was the least the department could do, the