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ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
Steve Hollister spends a day white fishing on Waikato’s Mokau River in August.
Licensing, river closures and quotas for catching backbacks have received strong public support to manage the decline of the species.
However, many moribillos on the west coast are not convinced that populations in the area are declining.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) has released a summary of the 11,533 submissions it received on proposed changes to the management of the species.
He noted “strong support” from both fishers and non-fishers to introduce a system of licenses and fees to manage and monitor the backpack fishery.
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This would generate revenue for research, monitoring, compliance and enforcement, the filings said.
There was also “considerable support” for catch limits or a quota system.
Four of the six species of whitebait in New Zealand are classified as threatened or at risk.
SIMON O’CONNOR AND ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
Simon and Andy from Taranaki share their best tips for teethers. (Video first published August 2017)
Currently, no licenses are required to fish for the species and there are no catch limits.
However, there are rules about when you can fish for whitebait and what kind of equipment you can use.
In general, restrictions are stricter on the west coast, where white bait is prohibited in many rivers.
74% of the participants favored the restriction of whitebait in more rivers. However, of those who said they lived or fished on the West Coast, only 5% agreed.
The whitebait season is from August 15 to November 30 in most of the country and from September 1 to November 14 on the west coast.
Almost all respondents agreed to shorten the season in some way.
The DOC’s preferred option to restrict the season from August 15 to October 14 was favored by 70 percent of the participants, while 24 percent supported the extension of the shorter season from the West Coast to the country in general.
ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
New Zealand’s fish species are experiencing “death by a thousand cuts,” says Annabeth Cohen, Forest and Bird’s freshwater advocate.
Of the 78 percent of the communications that commented on exports, practically all agreed to eliminate them.
A total of 7692 submissions were made through the Forest & Bird staff and 2,226 were made through a West Coast Whitebaiters Association template.
Forest & Bird freshwater advocate Annabeth Cohen said New Zealand’s native fish species were experiencing “death by a thousand cuts.”
“At every step of the way, from surveys to presentations to advice from top scientists, there is strong agreement that a license and catch limit are reasonable and necessary.”
Now it is up to conservation and environment ministers to save the knapsack from overfishing, water pollution and habitat destruction, he said.
West Coast Whitebaiters Association President Rob Roney said there was no evidence that whitebaiters species were in decline on the West Coast, and therefore no further restrictions were needed.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
West Coast Whitebaiters Association President Rob Roney says fisheries management should not be based on public opinion.
However, to be fair, he would support the rest of the country by changing his season to match that of the West Coast.
“We have a great history with whitebaiting; we are the largest region in the country with morbidity and there is no evidence that it is not sustainable. “
Public opinion was not a basis on which to base the management of a fishery, he said.
“Many of the participants have very little experience using trash, why would their opinion be something that the DOC would use? It has to be based on science. “
The presentations will inform the recommendations that DOC will make to the new Minister of Conservation, Kiri Allan.
