Conservation Comment: Tightening the net on whitebaiting

Whitebaiters at the mouth of the Kai Iwi Stream. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whitebait season is open. Shoals of fish are riding the tides, striving upstream, drawing fishers to where rivers meet the sea. That perennial cycle begins.

But our cherished tradition of catching a feed will look a little different this year. After many months of consultation attracting 11,500 submissions and a swell of public interest, we have finally arrived at the Government's new whitebaiting rules.

Changes include restrictions on gear placement and size, upstream limits and more whitebait refuges. From next year we'll see a shorter whitebaiting season. Community programmes will work to restore habitats.

Off the table are an end to commercial fishing, a ban on exports, licensing and catch limits. Change is long overdue, but do these new rules go far enough?

Whitebaiting regulations have not changed since the 1990s. Until this week, we've been treating the fishery as if it casts back to more bountiful days. Runs were bigger in decades past. Back in time still, early settlers' journals mention shoals so thick they darkened the water; excess whitebait used as garden manure or fed to hens until their eggs developed a fishy taste. Despite fluctuating catches from season to season, most whitebaiters agree that catches have declined over time.

Now we are left playing catch-up in a race against the clock. Four of our six whitebait species are tipped to become extinct in coming years. The causes are varied so halting their complete disappearance from our waterways will take a multi-pronged approach. But data is scarce.

Research recently carried out by Te Wai Māori Trust and NIWA found that three whitebait fish - īnanga, banded kōkopu and kōaro - are among New Zealand's freshwater species that are the most threatened by climate change. Whitebait may get fried before hitting the pan, with sunburn killing millions of eggs each year.

Meanwhile, New Zealand exports its "white gold" to a limited number of countries across the Pacific and Asia. Data from 2018 shows that 1000 kilograms were sent to Australia, the Cook Islands and Niue that year, selling for up to $100 a kilogram. Auckland fine-dining establishments feature whitebait as a pricey delicacy. Some lucky folk are cashing in.

While the commercial sale of wild whitebait is not the greatest cause of its decline, banning it could win us some time. MP Damien O'Connor considered in 2017: "If we just carry on allowing large-scale commercial operations without any regulations, it's likely to have an adverse effect. Whether it's a ban on commercial, or some serious restrictions, something needs to happen and it needs to happen reasonably quickly."

Other stakeholder suggestions have also been ignored by the government for one sole reason – gaps in our scientific knowledge. We simply don't know the size of the fishery and how much whitebait is caught. We have only a weak handle on spawning habitats and life histories.

Now DoC will work with whitebaiters, mana whenua, local communities and researchers to better understand the harvest and changes in runs.

Veteran whitebaiter Des McEnaney sums up our current situation: "Whitebaiters themselves know that things have to improve. And they want to be a part of that improvement. So it's a matter of bringing all the parties together. Let's meet in the middle and work the damn thing out."

The new rules are undoubtedly a middle ground. Is it enough to bring our whitebait back from the brink? Only time will tell. The clock is ticking.

Anne-Elise Smithson is an environmentalist who has campaigned for better protection of our waterways