Dr Paul Gillespie

A Cawthron Institute scientist appearing for New Zealand King Salmon yesterday told the hearing considering whether to allow the company to expand its farms that his personal opinion was that there should be no marine farming in the Marlborough Sounds.

Professionally, he believed the effects of extra salmon farms on the water column would be minor, and he was confident that monitoring systems could be set up to mitigate any effects from additional salmon farms in the Sounds.

Paul Gillespie was questioned by Sustain Our Sounds lawyer Warwick Heal about Cawthron's role in the application, and whether the company supported King Salmon's proposal.

Dr Gillespie said he did not accept any suggestion that Cawthron was pushing the company's proposal.

Cawthron scientists had assessed the application according to science. Scientists' personal views, which they kept separate from their professional views, could be totally different.

He had worked in circumstances where that was the case, and he had to be very careful.

Mr Heal asked Dr Gillespie for his personal view on the King Salmon application, and he said on a personal basis in this case, he had some bias.

"My personal opinion, I'm a reactionary. I don't like to see any development in any sort of natural environment. I'm a keen fisherman, I spend a lot of my time on the water. I have a place in the Sounds. I don't like to see any development, mussels or salmon. I like to see it wide open. That's just me.

"My professional experience and professional opinion is in my two briefings of evidence."

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Impact of extra farms minor, says scientist