‘Tough look’ at whitebait quota

Quotas and commercial licences for whitebaiting are being seriously considered by Conservation Minister Kiri Allan in a bid to curb the fishery’s decline.

Allan said yesterday there was still a lot of work to be done even after the extensive consultation with the community about the future of whitebait, including 2020’s discussion document which received more than 11,000 submissions.

With four of the six whitebait species classified by the New Zealand Threat Classification System as ‘‘at risk’’ or ‘‘threatened’’, the discussion document proposed a suite of changes to the fishery, including bringing in whitebait refuges, phasing out the exporting of whitebait, and new regulations for equipment.

‘‘I’m a whitebaiter and my family are whitebaiters, but everyone agrees, whether it’s Fish and Game or Forest and Bird, or recreational whitebaiters, that something needs to be done to protect the fish species,’’ Allan said. ‘‘There’s currently no quota system, and no licences required to fish for whitebait, and that’s something I think we need to have a tough look at.’’

The minister’s office added that, at this stage, they do not have any further announcements on changes to be made ahead of the next whitebaiting season.

Seasoned Timaru whitebaiter Bill Begg said he was not against a fishing licence for the delicacy but wanted all the revenue gathered from such a licence went back into restoring the fishery.

‘‘It can’t just go back to some pen pushers in Wellington,’’ Begg said. ‘‘It needs to go back into restoring the rivers and ensuring there is enough planting to provide for an improved habitat.’’

Begg said while he was not against quotas, the fishery in South Canterbury was really good during the 2020 season. ‘‘More whitebait was caught in South Canterbury than ever before,’’ he said.

Forest and Bird freshwater advocate Annabeth Cohen said there were three ‘‘big levers to pull’’ in order to improve the status of the whitebait fishery.

‘‘The first is a licence system, the second is a catch limit, and the third is data collection.

‘‘These are basic management practices, really, they’re the bare minimum of what should be implemented,’’ she said. ‘‘We know the whitebait population is under threat, but until we know what the populations are at a more local level, we won’t be able to have local solutions.’’

Cohen said the whitebait fishery was under pressure, as was much of the native fishery, with a lot of it linked to declining water quality.

‘‘It’s a death by 1000 cuts situation. We know that the fish population collapse can happen very quickly, and that there are lots of long term solutions required to improve their habitat,’’ Cohen said.

The whitebait season runs between August 15 and November 30 in all areas of New Zealand except the West Coast (September 1-November 14) and the Chatham Islands (December 1 and the last day of February). The consultation document proposed setting the season as August 15 to October 14 for everywhere except the Chatham Islands.

‘‘... everyone agrees . . . something needs to be done to protect the fish species.’’

Kiri Allan Conservation Minister