Taking a stand for whitebaiting

Kevin O’Neill, of Invercargill, spends much of the season in his Titiroa Stream whitebait hut. PHOTOS: STEPHEN JAQUIERY

Karl Shaw, of Invercargill, proudly shows a 2kg haul he caught on the bottom of the tide on the Mataura River.

Graham Hicks, of Invercargill, on his Mataura River stand.

Dozens of whitebait huts and stands dot the Titiroa Stream near Fortrose in Southland.

Frittering the whitebaiting season away on the edge of the river may be a thing of the past if Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has her way.

While the talk on the Mataura River and Titiroa Stream on Thursday was of tides, the recent full moon and promising-looking catches for the weekend, the grumbles were about proposed changes to this New Zealand tradition.

While the Department of Conservation website states that regulations will not change for the 2020 season, whitebaiters are upset about Ms Sage’s Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill, which seeks to prohibit whitebaiting on the conservation estate after a one-year transitional period.

Many of Southland’s 654 registered whitebait stands will be occupied today for the second weekend of the season.

Whitebait season

The whitebaiting season runs from August 15 until November 30 everywhere except the South Island’s West Coast, where it runs from September 1 to November 14.

Fishing is permitted only between 5am and 8pm or, during daylight saving, between 6am and 9pm.

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