#whitebaiting — Public Fediverse posts

Waiau River - photos of Whitebaiting and the river mouth in decades past, c1980s

Whitebaiting, Waiau River and Waiau Mouth. This is what the whitebaiting scene at the Waiau River looked like in 'the season', many years ago now. This series of images, recently donated to the Community Archive, were used to commemorate the new 2024 Whitebaiting season. The new 2025 season starts today on 1 September. We wish all whitebaiters on our river a safe, successful season, and encourage the environmental protection of these taonga, so future generations can also enjoy whitebaiting as we do.

IMAGES:
Photo 1 - whitebaiting on the Waiau River at the mouth, in days past
Photo 2 - some of the whitebaiting caravans parked up at Waiau River
Photos 3 - scenes of the Waiau River at the Waiau mouth in days past
Photographs by Ron McDowell & kindly donated to CWA. Licensed CC BY

WHITEBAIT:
The Department of Conservation or DOC, summarises what we know as 'Whitebait, as being, "the juveniles of six species of fish, five of which are migratory galaxiids: inanga, banded kōkopu, giant kōkopu, kōaro and shortjaw kōkopu. The sixth species is common smelt." Doc further inform us that the whitebait caught locally from the Waiau River, are predominantly inanga. These are "found in a wide variety of habitats, from tiny creeks, to coastal rivers, lowland streams, lakes and wetlands." Inanga are small and most only survive a year or so, reaching about 100mm in length – the longest one found on record, was 190 mm.

"Because they are poor climbers, inanga are usually found near the coast. Their silvery belly and somewhat forked tail make them easy to distinguish. Found in places as far flung as Chile, Australia and Argentina, inanga are the most widely distributed native freshwater fish in the world," records DOC. They are also Aotearoa New Zealand’s most commonly caught species of whitebait. But as well as this, their population is in decline. Almost all of the Whitebait species are either in decline or threatened, hence new restrictions on catching them. If we want future generations to be able to carry on our tradition of whitebaiting, we need to preserve this previous taonga/treasure.

Whitebaiting is a favourite cherished sport and time-honoured tradition in many parts of the country, and especially at the Waiau River Mouth. Local's have whitebaited here for generations, and can tell tales of times when the beach stretched all the way along Bluecliffs, with road access and parking. In recent times the Waiau Mouth has eroded into the sea, taking a lot of land with it, forever changing the landscape of the river mouth and whitebaiting.

But the landscape at the Waiau Mouth is not the only thing that has now changed. To help protect these taonga or treasured fish species and their habitats for the future, there is now a shorter season and more set rules. For 2024 on the Waiau River in Western Murihiku Southland, the season ran between September 1 & October 30, with whitebaiting only permitted on those days between 5am to 8pm, or 6am to 9pm during daylight savings. The 2025 season is also running from 1 Sept to 30 October.

Now, each person can only have one whitebait net operating at any given time, and this must be attended at all times. The mouth of the net is not allowed to be wider than 4.5 meters. Also, you cannot fish by structures like bridges, culverts, even river junctions. This is to protect these vulnerable fish stocks. If everyone follows the rules, we can all help maintain a healthy river ecosystem, and ensure that whitebait can continue to thrive for the future.

The new regulations which have recently been put into place, are being enforced in a joint effort between Police and DoC. All whitebaiters were notified and encouraged to educate themselves on the new rules and regulations ahead of the 2024 season. It was pleasing to read in a news article from this year, that a patrol of the Waiau River in an effort to ensure adherence to the new regulations, undertaken in late August 2024, there were no reported violations of early whitebaiting. However, there were some later violations of the rules which restricts nighttime whitebaiting.

WAIAU TRUST WHITEBAIT HABITAT:
This project has a focus on the creation of rearing habitats for whitebait, which in turn, helps a diverse range of wildlife which reside or migrate to this coastal environment. According to the Waiau Trust's website (see more in Place Notes), "Adult fish spawn in vegetation at the margins of tidal wetlands and streams, during spring tides in the months of February to April. The fertilised eggs...
Central and Western Murihiku Southland Archive via DigitalNZ

http://api.digitalnz.org/records/55974925/source

#Murihiku #Southland #Hunting #GreatOutdoors #WaiauRiverMouth #TeWaewaeBay #WildFoodGathering #SouthWestCoast #WaiauDistrict #WaiauRiver #Whitebaiting #Waiau #WaiauMouth #Fishing #Whitebait #Erosion #CoastalErosion #WhitebaitHabitat #Galaxiids #Inanga #WaiauTrust #SouthCoast

Waiau River - photos of Whitebaiting and the river mouth in decades past, c1980s

Whitebaiting, Waiau River and Waiau Mouth. This is what the whitebaiting scene at the Waiau River looked like in 'the season', many years ago now. This series of images, recently donated to the Community Archive, were used to commemorate the new 2024 Whitebaiting season. The new 2025 season starts today on 1 September. We wish all whitebaiters on our river a safe, successful season, and encourage the environmental protection of these taonga, so future generations can also enjoy whitebaiting as we do.

IMAGES:
Photo 1 - whitebaiting on the Waiau River at the mouth, in days past
Photo 2 - some of the whitebaiting caravans parked up at Waiau River
Photos 3 - scenes of the Waiau River at the Waiau mouth in days past
Photographs by Ron McDowell & kindly donated to CWA. Licensed CC BY

WHITEBAIT:
The Department of Conservation or DOC, summarises what we know as 'Whitebait, as being, "the juveniles of six species of fish, five of which are migratory galaxiids: inanga, banded kōkopu, giant kōkopu, kōaro and shortjaw kōkopu. The sixth species is common smelt." Doc further inform us that the whitebait caught locally from the Waiau River, are predominantly inanga. These are "found in a wide variety of habitats, from tiny creeks, to coastal rivers, lowland streams, lakes and wetlands." Inanga are small and most only survive a year or so, reaching about 100mm in length – the longest one found on record, was 190 mm.

"Because they are poor climbers, inanga are usually found near the coast. Their silvery belly and somewhat forked tail make them easy to distinguish. Found in places as far flung as Chile, Australia and Argentina, inanga are the most widely distributed native freshwater fish in the world," records DOC. They are also Aotearoa New Zealand’s most commonly caught species of whitebait. But as well as this, their population is in decline. Almost all of the Whitebait species are either in decline or threatened, hence new restrictions on catching them. If we want future generations to be able to carry on our tradition of whitebaiting, we need to preserve this previous taonga/treasure.

Whitebaiting is a favourite cherished sport and time-honoured tradition in many parts of the country, and especially at the Waiau River Mouth. Local's have whitebaited here for generations, and can tell tales of times when the beach stretched all the way along Bluecliffs, with road access and parking. In recent times the Waiau Mouth has eroded into the sea, taking a lot of land with it, forever changing the landscape of the river mouth and whitebaiting.

But the landscape at the Waiau Mouth is not the only thing that has now changed. To help protect these taonga or treasured fish species and their habitats for the future, there is now a shorter season and more set rules. For 2024 on the Waiau River in Western Murihiku Southland, the season ran between September 1 & October 30, with whitebaiting only permitted on those days between 5am to 8pm, or 6am to 9pm during daylight savings. The 2025 season is also running from 1 Sept to 30 October.

Now, each person can only have one whitebait net operating at any given time, and this must be attended at all times. The mouth of the net is not allowed to be wider than 4.5 meters. Also, you cannot fish by structures like bridges, culverts, even river junctions. This is to protect these vulnerable fish stocks. If everyone follows the rules, we can all help maintain a healthy river ecosystem, and ensure that whitebait can continue to thrive for the future.

The new regulations which have recently been put into place, are being enforced in a joint effort between Police and DoC. All whitebaiters were notified and encouraged to educate themselves on the new rules and regulations ahead of the 2024 season. It was pleasing to read in a news article from this year, that a patrol of the Waiau River in an effort to ensure adherence to the new regulations, undertaken in late August 2024, there were no reported violations of early whitebaiting. However, there were some later violations of the rules which restricts nighttime whitebaiting.

WAIAU TRUST WHITEBAIT HABITAT:
This project has a focus on the creation of rearing habitats for whitebait, which in turn, helps a diverse range of wildlife which reside or migrate to this coastal environment. According to the Waiau Trust's website (see more in Place Notes), "Adult fish spawn in vegetation at the margins of tidal wetlands and streams, during spring tides in the months of February to April. The fertilised eggs...
Central and Western Murihiku Southland Archive via DigitalNZ

http://api.digitalnz.org/records/55974925/source

#Murihiku #Southland #Hunting #GreatOutdoors #WaiauRiverMouth #TeWaewaeBay #WildFoodGathering #SouthWestCoast #WaiauDistrict #WaiauRiver #Whitebaiting #Waiau #WaiauMouth #Fishing #Whitebait #Erosion #CoastalErosion #WhitebaitHabitat #Galaxiids #Inanga #WaiauTrust #SouthCoast