Mr Ellison, on behalf of the taiapure committee, a customary fishing management group, was one of many submitters speaking at Port Otago's resource consent application to express concerns about the impacts of dredge soil being dumped offshore.
He called for the dredged soil to be dumped on land and the bond to be paid and indicated the runanga might seek a "rahui" (stop) over the disposal of soil in the ocean under the Takutai Moana Bill.
A scientific adviser for the East Otago Taiapure Committee, Dr Chris Hepburn, said any reduction in the extent of habitats, such as rocky reefs, resulting from smothering by sediments from dredge spoil was likely to have significant and irreversible impacts on fisheries within and surrounding the taiapure.
He believed the scientific evaluation of the port's experts was "overconfident" and it was not known for certain what would happen as a result of the disposal at sea, he said.
University of Otago PhD student Pete Russell, on behalf of the taiapure, questioned the port's computer modelling as he believed the hydrology of the region's environment was "quite dynamic" and not as steady as the computer model showed it to be.
University of Otago PhD student Anne-Marie Jackson, on behalf of the taiapure, said high sediment loads already compromised habitats and fisheries within and around the taiapure and they were unable to predict what impact more sediment might have on those areas.
"We are not convinced by scientists who believe they can predict the final resting place of highly mobile sediment that will be re-suspended in a system as complicated as the Blueskin Bay gyre."
Despite knowing of their concerns for more than a year, the port company had not addressed those issues, she said.
Surfbreak Protection Society member Jayin Hutchings said his organisation disagreed strongly with the port company's specialists' claim the surf would not be affected by the disposal at the offshore site.
There were three protected surf breaks in the region, which were important to tourism, and they could all be affected by the disposal.
The company had time to do more investigation and better monitoring to ensure this did not happen, he said.
Society chairman Paul Shanks' submission said dredge spoils were going to affect waves in a way that was unknown and could create a swell barrier rather than a wave enhancer at Aramoana.
It was thought the capital dredging would have a detrimental effect on the surf breaks at Aramoana and what was unknown was how much of the spoil would move northwards to affect the surf breaks at Murderers Bay and Karitane.
The society did not want to see any of the capital dredging spoil dumped at the current maintenance dredging disposal sites, the submission said.
Dr Thomas Mattern, on behalf of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, said there was potential for a considerable portion of the local yellow-eyed penguin populations to be affected by dredge-spoil disposal.
The penguin was of considerable economic significance to Dunedin, so it was important any impacts on its feeding environment were mitigated by establishing the extent the horse mussel fields in the area affected by the disposal site were being utilised by local populations of penguins.
An annual monitoring programme of foraging and breeding success to assess whether their reproductive performance would be compromised should be initiated, Dr Mattern said
Port Otago Hearing
Panel: John Lumsden (chairman), Hugh Leersnyder, Dr Mike Johnston
Proposal:
• Upgrade channel berth and swinging areas disposing 7.2 million cu m at sea
• Extend multipurpose wharf by 135m
• Construct fishing wharf at end Boiler Pt walkway
Where: Otago Regional Council, Dunedin
Day 9: Submitters evidence
Giving evidence yesterday: East Otago Taiapure Management Committee, Brendan Flack (read by wife Suzi), Waikouaiti residents Greg and Viv Kerr, Surfbreak Protection Society Jayin Hutchings and president Paul Shanks (read by Rod Rust), surfer Rod Rust, Aramoana Conservation Group member Adrienne Hall, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust field manger Dave McFarlane, trust specialist witness Dr Thomas Mattern, STOP spokeswoman Lala Frazer, writer David Karena-Holmes, Careys Bay residents (noise) Dr Brent Hall, Blair Smith, Judy Fisher, Grant Miller.
Quote of day
"We are not convinced by scientists who believe they can predict the final resting place of highly mobile sediment that will be resuspended in a system as complicated as the Blueskin Bay gyre"
- Anne-Marie Jackson, on behalf of the East Otago Taiapure Committee.
