Cavanagh said there had recently been a big run on whitebait, so it was going to be an interesting season.
“Where I go to catch whitebait, I’ve seen them already, and so I would say by the time the season opens we’ll get a few, and hopefully towards the end of it, we’ll still get enough to keep people happy and get themselves a good feed.”
Department of Conservation (DoC) freshwater species manager Emily Funnell said there were a number of factors that determined how many whitebait would run up a river.
“It’s actually really difficult to ever say what the whitebaiting season is going to be like. There’s just so many things that determine the numbers of whitebait that run into rivers. It depends on what’s happening out in the ocean environment and how successful their spawning activities were in rivers.”
In 2021 and 2022, the Whanganui DoC team worked with hapū to survey 30 randomised sites for spawning over 10 days.
Results showed eggs were only present at 1 per cent of the total spawning area.
DoC freshwater technical adviser Rosemary Miller said there was potential for a lot more spawning habitat in the Whanganui River than there was currently.
“We looked at what available habitat spawning was in the lower river, and what that basically concluded was that there wasn’t an awful lot because the banks were too steep, they were too muddy and didn’t have the right vegetation.
“So there weren’t many places for the fish to lay their eggs, which is, of course, a prerequisite if you want to have lots of fish to catch during the whitebait season.”
DoC Whanganui is doing ongoing work to restore habitats for whitebait spawning.
Funnell said a shorter season for the whole country - from September 1 to October 30 - was introduced last year to reduce fishing pressure on whitebait in their peak migration period.
Four of the six whitebait species - giant kōkopu, shortjaw kōkopu, kōaro and īnanga - are threatened or at risk of extinction.
She said previously, the whitebait season took place over three different time periods around New Zealand.
“It’s going to take some time before we can see what sort of impact that’s having on our fish populations.
“Whitebait are so important to iwi culture, and so we want to make sure there’s still going to be plenty of fish around for people to catch in future generations.”
The depletion of whitebait populations was due largely to loss of habitat, poor water quality, impeded fish passage and fishing, Funnell said.
“Look, there’s a lot of pressures on our whitebait. Definitely, water quality is one of the major ones, particularly sediment when it settles in their spawning areas - it makes those habitats unavailable to them.
“Also loss of habitat and vegetation, so wetland drainage and any damage to the riverbanks where they spawn is having a real impact on them.
“There’s also impeded fish passages as the large dams in the river, or any structure like a culvert, can stop the fish from reaching their adult habitat. If you don’t have good habitats for the adults, they don’t spawn and have that whitebait run.”
Cavanagh said the numbers of whitebait had depleted over the last few years.
“That’s mainly [due to] the fact that weather conditions haven’t been the greatest, and seasons when the whitebait have been around have been slightly different.
“Most people get them to make themselves a few fritters.”
Cavanagh said he personally didn’t like eating whitebait, but enjoyed catching them.
“I just give them out to people, elderly friends and my neighbours.”
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
