As whitebaiters cast their nets on rivers around the country for the start of the season, some are questioning whether the rules governing the threatened species are fit for purpose.<\/p>\n
Labour is calling for a review of the fishery, asking whether limits are needed for recreational anglers.<\/p>\n
Unlike most high-value seafood, whitebaiters don\u2019t need a commercial fishing license. There\u2019s also no quota system, meaning recreational fisher can keep and sell as much as they catch.<\/p>\n
In the past, its popularity has created tension on rivers, as it can prove financially lucrative, selling for $80 a kilo.<\/p>\n
Labour\u2019s Oceans and Fisheries spokesperson Rachel Boyack wants the Government to consider an urgent review, arguing the current rules may not adequately protect the threatened species.<\/p>\n
“It’s a delicacy, but as well as being something that people love to eat, it’s actually an important fishery that helps spawn other stocks. It also has important biosecurity elements.”<\/p>\n
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka told 1News that he wasn\u2019t aware of the concerns.<\/p>\n
“No, I haven’t heard or seen of that. And the advice that I’ve been receiving, and certainly not a priority for me, what is a priority for me is making sure we don’t get any new taxes,” he said.<\/p>\n
As well as fishing pressure, the Department of Conservation says the six species that make up the whitebait fishery \u2013 \u012bnanga, banded k\u014dkopu, k\u014daro, giant k\u014dkopu, shortjaw k\u014dkopu and common smelt\/paraki \u2013 face a range of other threats.<\/p>\n
A DOC spokesperson said adult and spawning habitat degradation and loss, poor water quality, and impeded fish passage within river systems are all impacting whitebait.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As whitebaiters cast their nets on rivers around the country for the start of the season, some are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-587199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-animals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}