By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE
TAURANGA - Department of Conservation officers are pleased so far with the behaviour of whitebaiters.
The season opened last week and will run until November 30, with fishing allowed between 5 am and 8 pm.
DoC staff are monitoring Bay of Plenty whitebait sites to make sure fishers are playing by the rules.
Tauranga's area manager, Andrew Baucke, said most people were happy to comply.
However, two groups have been found netting the delicacy illegally, from within 20m of a culvert or a river confluence. No decision has been made about prosecution but they face confiscation of fishing gear.
Four teams of DoC officers policed Tauranga's waterways by boat and on foot last weekend.
They distributed pamphlets, answered questions and checked to see if the regulations were being followed.
Fishers taking bait by rules
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