WHITEBAIT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20724, 18 November 1930, Page 12

WHITEBAIT.

Sir. —As one who has studied whitebait and their habits for the last 20 years I read v/ith interest the article on this question by Mr. T. F. Frost in Fridays Herald. I maintain that the idea that whitebait are minnow, pilchard, sardine, anchovy, herrings or sprats is entirely w?ong • and that the investigations being carried out by Captain Hayes, of the Marine Department, are in the wrong direction. The whitebait are a distinct fish from any minnow or any fish that are similar. Their flesh is more delicateand not coarse like the so-called whitebait of the Waikato River. The whitebait spawn as late as November and reach the size of lin. long in about three weeks. The young are hatched in two or three weeks and they reach maturity in about six weeks to two months. The pilchard spawns earlier in the year, about June and July, and by the time the whitebait come along they are coarse and not really a delicacy to eat. Anchovy and pilchard and minnow have quite different characteristics from the true whitebait. The anchovy has a longer top jaw and a different body, tho pilchard a deeper-col-oured flesh, a harsher head and a split tail, and tho minnow smells something like a cucumber when it gets big, has a dark fop and lighter underpart and longer head. Whitebait are a salt-water and fresh-water fish and will only bo found in rivers as far as the salt, water runs up the rivers. Some will say, well, why are they found at Northcoto Wharf? Well, just this, tho whitebait that are found it Northcoto arc in partly fresh and partly salt water, as a fresh-water stream is continually running past the wharf. A. W. Martin.