Picture: Whitebait vandals net a blast from the council

File picture / Alan Gibson

This whitebaiter is playing by the rules, but the lure of white gold in parts of the Bay of Plenty has encouraged other people to chop down trees and cut steps into riverbanks.

Environment Bay of Plenty works engineer Tony Dunlop said the regional council had similar trouble every year.

"Those trees and those riverbanks are a critical part of our flood protection scheme and we can't afford to have them damaged or destroyed."

Mr Dunlop said some floodgates had been opened, increasing risk in the flood-prone region. The whitebaiting season runs until November 30.