Whitebait fishermen have high hopes

Press, 17 August 1979, Page 1

Whitebait fishermen have high hopes

Whitebaiters could be in for the biggest harvest for years when the 1979 season opens on September 1, some experts predict. According to reports reaching Christchurch fish retailers, whitebait are already running up West Coast rivers in much bigger shoals than last year, especially in the Haast area. “It looks like the season should open with a bang, which will be good because no-one has any big stocks of frozen whitebait left,” said the president of the Christchurch Fish Retailers’ Association - (Mr B. E. Mather). However, unpredictable river levels and weather could still change what promised to be a good season’s opening into a bad one.

Catches in the North Island, where the season opened on August 1, have been traditionally small, but there is a good flow in most of Canterbury’s main rivers, and most of the ' rivermouths are suitable for the whitebait to run up. As usual, however, whitebaiters between the Hurunui and the Rangitata rivers will probably have to wait longer than those further north and further south for the steady runs. Whitebait was sold in Christchurch shops at $1.90 for IOOg at the opening of last season, compared with $2 for IOOg the previous season, but retailers say it is too early to predict this year’s price. “It could even go down again, depending on supply

and demand,” said one retailer. Whitebaiters starting fforn scratch this season can expect to pay about $26 for a Im wire-mesh set net, minus a handle, compared with $2O last year and $9 or $lO three years ago* Pole nets, which are popular on the steep banks of the Avon and Heathcote rivers, cost $4O or more this year, compared with between $l5 and $2O four seasons ago. Retailers said yesterday that the increase in the price of pole nets was mainly from the use of ulstron or terylene fabric, which lasts longer than the once-popular cotton. At the bottom of the range is a small set net, which sells for $2O complete with handle.