Whitebait Season Opens Badly

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31773, 2 September 1968, Page 1

Whitebait Season Opens Badly

(From Our Own Reporter) WESTPORT, Sept. 1. The whitebait season in Buller did not begin well today. Most rivers and streams were a muddy brown after recent rain and all fishermen could do was blind trawl. Brilliantly fine weather today encouraged many to go fishing on the Buller River. Although experienced fish-

ermen predicted a bumper harvest this year, no big catches were reported today. The honorary inspector of fisheries for Buller (Constable J. J. Dunn) said late lust week that he had noticed more than the usual amount of bait Last Friday Constable Dunn banned fishing on a stretch of the western bank of the Buller River below the Buller bridge. A decision to ban whitebaiting along this stretch was made after complaints from a property owner who said that people were trespassing

to get to the riverside and that many were leaving gates open, allowing stock to wander on to the highway. Vegetation had been destroyed along the water’s edge causing erosion and a considerable amount of land had been lost over the years and was causing the Westland Catchment Board some concern. Constable Dunn said he believed fishermen disputed the right of land owners to deny them access to this particular stretch of river.