Whitebait concerns aired at meeting

ABOUT 20 whitebaiters turned out to have their say on issues facing the West Coast fishery in a public meeting hosted by the Department of Conservation in Hokitika on Tuesday.

Doc has been tasked by Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage to review the future of the fishery, resulting in a Whitebait Working Group.

Former West Coast Whitebaiters’ Association president Des McEnaney, a member of the West Coast sustainable whitebait project, said if there were to be changes to the regulations, the West Coast needed to be the template.

The rest of the nation need to be brought into line, he said.

‘‘We’ve already pulled our weight, plus a bit, for something like 30 years.’’

Seasoned Hokitika River whitebaiter Peter Campion agreed, saying West Coast fishermen were the biggest conservators.

‘‘We’ve got x amount of rivers that are blocked and closed because of habitat. The habitat has been lost throughout New Zealand, so that needs to be brought back in throughout New Zealand and come in line with the West Coast.’’

He said the shorter season was enforced on the Coast 30 years ago while the rest of New Zealand stayed the same: ‘‘They’ve got to come in line and then you’ll conserve whitebait.’’

Whether there was a need to do so caused debate.

Despite claims that the whitebait fishery is in serious decline, good catches have been reported throughout the West Coast this season.

Dave West, of the Department of Conservation’s Christchurch freshwater team, was quizzed on how whitebait statistics were measured.

Dr West encouraged people to continue to complete its surveys — over 3000 of which have been done so far — and voice their concerns to increase the chance of having a democratic decision.

The information meetings are not classed officially as consultation and no decisions are being made at this stage, Doc says. — Hokitika Guardian