WHITEBAIT SEASON

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28679, 1 September 1958, Page 8

WHITEBAIT SEASON

Record Prices Expected

The whitebait season will open today and good supplies are expected by the end of the week.

A report from Westport says there is every possibility of record prices being offered this year on the West Coast for whitebait with the chance that like other fish they become a luxury for local residents.

Already several inquiries have been made by city firms for local agents to purchase the small fish in any quantity and it is.likely that most of the whitebait caught will find its way to the frozen foods factories.

Commissions of up to 2s a lb have been offered to thos£ willing to collect whitebait and dispatch the fish to the centres. Last year the average price offered on the river bank was 5s a pint. There was a poor season in Buller in 1957 and very little frozen whitebait has appeared in the off period even in food packets. Quite a lot of whitebait has been seen in the Buller streams recently and many persons have been busy erecting stands on the banks of the Orowaiti river, the only one in the Buller district where they are allowed.

Strict Regulations Whitebait fishing is strictly controlled for both private and commercial fishermen and Marine Department rangers will be on the job from today to watch for breaches.

One of the most rigid regulations is that a fishing net must not be bigger than 15ft in circumference. To fish from a boat, the boat must be securely moored as close to the bank as possible. A boat should not be used to fish from if the width of the river is less than 20 feet. It is illegal to use more than one net at a time. It is no good securing a net in the river and then going to sleep on the bank. The regulations say that a fishing net must be attended to all the time while fishing. Some fishermen have at times tried to alter the natural bed of the stream or river in places while trying to trap whitebait. This is also illegal.

It is an offence to fish for whitebait within one chain of any weir, floodgate, tidegate, or bridge.