Coasters try to fix whitebait tensions

The Government is stepping in to try to deal with escalating tensions, intimidation and poaching in a region widely regarded as the whitebaiting capital of New Zealand.

With whitebaiters coming from as far afield as Australia every season to fish on the West Coast, there is increasing competition for the best spots, and police are having to deal with the fallout.

The West Coast Whitebaiters Association is concerned that the occasional outbreaks of sabotage and violence between fishermen, if unchecked, could lead to someone being seriously hurt or killed.

"That's always a possibility," said association president Jim Bushby. "We hope it never comes to that."

Associate Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson and West Coast-Tasman MP Chris Auchinvole will join local authorities and whitebaiters at a public meeting in Greymouth tomorrow to consider possible measures.

Whitebaiting on the West Coast is governed by rules and regulations separate from those in the rest of the country.

A spokesman for Ms Wilkinson said the minister was going to listen to the concerns of the coasters and would then consider what could be done.

One suggestion already raised is that Department of Conservation staff enforcing the whitebaiting rules carry batons or pepper spray to deal with aggressive fishermen. But the spokesman said he could "effectively rule out" that option.

Mr Auchinvole said West Coasters saw whitebaiting as a "birthright", with a long-standing set of conventions.

"However, the conventions are not always understood and are open to personal interpretation."

Mr Bushby said his association wanted a crackdown on traps being used to poach whitebait before the official season started, a rule guaranteeing space between fishermen and their fishing spots, and clear separation of commercial and recreational whitebaiting.

He said locals did not like competing with outsiders for positions "and of course that causes tensions".