Sterling nibble

Press, 8 September 1982, Page 1

Sterling nibble

Whitebait fanciers are swallowing high prices for the new season’s delicacy. Its cost? About one-tenth the. price of silver. The season began on September 1 and Christchurch fish retailers have been selling the first West Coast whitebait this week for about $3.80 for lOOg, making this forkful (pictured) worth about 10c. Surveyed prices at suburban shops were slightly cheaper, down to $3.40 for lOOg. A Christchurch spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr R. V. Reid, said that it was' the

usual story — plenty of whitebaiters but few whitebait. Some people were spending a day to catch about a cupful. “It’s madness,” said Mr Reid. He estimated that the number of whitebaiters had trebled in the last four years. The Ashley and Waima-

kariri rivers were popular spots and fisheries officers had confiscated a few nets for alleged breaches of the regulations. The manager of Avon Fisheries in Armagh Street, Mr I. Young, said that the season got off to ah expensive start this year but the price should eventually drop to about $3 for IOOg. Retailers were stocking small quantities of whitebait to avoid being caught .when catches improved and the price fell. “The days of the old pound lots are just about gone,” he said.