Whitebaiters have pushed back on claims fishing is responsible for the delicacy's decline. Photo / File
Whitebaiters have pushed back on claims fishing is responsible for the delicacy's decline. Photo / File
Whitebaiters have pushed back on claims fishing is responsible for the delicacy's decline and say the Government should target habitat loss instead.
East Coast MP Anne Tolley organised a public meeting in Whakatāne yesterday to hear from whitebaiters about what they thought of the Government's proposed changes to management of the fishery.
Four of the six whitebait species are classified as "at risk" or threatened" and the Department of Conservation is proposing to address this by managing and limiting whitebaiters.
Proposed changes include amending the timing of the whitebait season, introducing nationwide upstream limits on whitebaiting, creating whitebait refuges in some waterways, which could see whitebaiting banned for two-to-ten years or indefinitely, banning some whitebaiting gear and phasing out the export of whitebait.
The Whakatane, Tarawera, Rangitaiki, Waioeka and Waiotahi Rivers may be used as whitebait refuges as well as the Nukuhou River and Wainui Stream which flow into the Ohiwa Harbour.
Consultation on the changes has been criticised by local whitebaiters as the nearest public meeting organised by the DoC was 208-kilometres away in Otorohanga.
"This is of extreme importance to everyone in our rohe and many of our rivers will be affected by these changes," Tolley said.
"I wrote to the Conservation Minister (Eugenie Sage) with your complaints about a meeting not being held here and decided we should just hold a meeting ourselves."
Tolley said she invited local DoC staff to the meeting but was told they couldn't attend as they didn't know enough about the proposed changes to inform a public meeting about them.
"That is of huge concern to me that these changes are being proposed and our local people don't know enough about them," she said.
Just over 120 whitebaiters attended the meeting where they also heard from National Party spokeswoman for conservation Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean and Bay of Plenty Regional Council elected member Bill Clark.
Claims from Clark and other whitebaiters that predation and degradation of habitat were to blame for the declining whitebait population were met with cheers and applause from the audience.
Clark said the plight of whitebait was on his conscience as a regional councillor.
"The regional council has destroyed more whitebait habitat in the last 30 years than anyone else," Clark said.
"The regional council takes a lot of blame, but you guys (whitebaiters) also need to accept some of that blame."
Clark said the biggest threat to whitebait was mice as they ate the fish's eggs once they had been laid on reeds and grass on the riverbanks.
He said whitebaiters could do their bit by managing pests on their land.
Clark said the regional council faced pressure to keep rates as low as possible and often did only the bare essentials; whitebaiters needed to speak up for what they wanted.
"You can be the voice for this resource and ensure that habitat restoration happens," he said.
East Coast MP Anne Tolley organised a public meeting in Whakatāne yesterday. Photo / Troy Baker
Whitebaiters raised a variety of concerns at the meeting from the proposed refuge sites, limitations on whitebaiting gear, loss of habitat, waterways pollution, commercialisation of catch and predation from shags and trout.
A "self-imposed kaitiaki" of the Whakatāne River said he had been whitebaiting there for 50 years and took his children, mokopuna and now his great-grandchildren there to whitebait too.
He blamed the Whakatāne District Council for removing the willow trees that used to sit along the bank.
He appeared to support the banning of some gear and described some modern nets as "scary".
Steve Chapman expressed concern at how the district council's proposed marina would affect whitebait population and said it would be difficult for elderly to continue whitebaiting if only scoop nets were allowed.
Many others said the construction of the Matahina Dam had impacted the whitebait population and Trustpower should put in the putea (money) to restore the whitebait habitat.
"Whitebait were abundant until they built that dam," said one woman.
Others raised concern about how DoC would police the new rules. One man said he called DoC three days in a row to report illegal whitebaiters before the beginning of last season and nobody did anything.
Some refuted the claim that whitebait had been declining and said catches had been improving year on year for the past five years.
Dean said the National Party would be "very loathe" to cut out safe and traditional whitebaiting and said DoC needed to be looking at the problem as a whole instead of one facet.
"If we're going to crack this nut, we have to look at who is responsible for the habitat and work closely together while using local knowledge," she said.
"We need to look at the entire eco-system not just the bit that's providing our kai.
"Whitebaiting is a part of our lives, culture and history and we want to ensure it's a part of our future for our children, grandchildren and beyond."
Tolley said the problem needed to be approached through the use of good scientific evidence which she feels is lacking in the consultation document.
"This is taking a one size fits all approach and what may work in one river won't work in another," she said.
Tolley encouraged all who attended the meeting to make a submission in response to the planned changes and said if they were unsure how to do so her staff would be happy to help.
Submissions need to be made before March 16 and can be filled out online on DoC's website, made by email to whitebait@doc.govt.nz or by post to Whitebait Management Consultation, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 10420, Wellington 6143.
