Whitebait review has support

Whitebaiters are hoping that the good hauls continue, despite concern that the species is dwindling.

Although the Aoraki Conservation Board sent a letter warning the ministers of environment, conservation and fisheries that whitebait could face extinction within a generation if nothing is done to better protect the fish species, whitebaiters spoken to by Stuff said the recent seasons had been as good as ever.

However, they were also supportive of a coming review of whitebait regulations.

Bill Begg, of Timaru, said last season had been the best in years.

‘‘I got more last year than I have ever got in my life.’’

Begg said whitebaiting in South Canterbury was far less territorial than somewhere like the West Coast. ‘‘It’s also well managed. DOC have really been keeping a close eye on the various whitebaiting spots. They arrive early and check up on you.’’

However, he believed it was inevitable that some form of quota would eventually be introduced.

‘‘It is a big concern that numbers of whitebait are apparently decreasing.’’

Fellow Timaru whitebaiter Colin McConnochie also reported that last year was one of the best in some years.

‘‘Everyone sticks to the rules, there’s always a lot of whitebait going around that area,’’ he said.

Westland District mayor Bruce Smith, a keen West Coast whitebaiter, said 2017 went like gangbusters.

‘‘You don’t get it every year, but when you do, it’s really good,’’ he said.

However, he said he would welcome any monitoring and regulating of the catch, particularly for those who take for commercial purposes.

‘‘Monitoring the whitebait population makes sense,’’ Smith said. ‘‘Quotas are also a good thing.’’ Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has said a review would take place during the next few months, which would look at the available scientific knowledge on whitebait, including their biology and ecology, population status and threats, past and current management, and pressures on, and threats to the whitebait species.

She had also directed DOC establish a technical advisory group to develop options for improving whitebait management.

In 2017, Massey University researchers Kyleisha Foote and Pierce McNie presented the primary production select committee with a petition calling for the end of commercial whitebaiting. The petition received more than 3000 signatures.

However, a spokesperson for Sage said it was still too early to say whether that banning commercial fishing of whitebait would be an option for the advisory group to consider.

A spokesperson for Forest & Bird agreed that a wide-ranging review on the state of the country’s whitebait population was needed.

The whitebait season is open between August 15 and November 30 except on the West Coast and the Chatham Islands.