Whitebait Season Closes 11 November

The recreational whitebait season, which coincides with the springtime upstream migration of whitebait, closed on 11 November. This year, the runs in some rivers were held back by increased downstream flows due to high rainfalls in the preceding weeks and months. However this did not deter the activities of some would-be poachers nor lessen the compliance work of Inland Fisheries inspectors.

During October, Inland Fisheries inspectors successfully shut down two poaching operations on the North West coast involving known repeat offenders fishing in closed waters. The investigations that led to the arrests resulted from information supplied by members of the public. Inspectors also seized an illegal quantity of caught whitebait at another location and retrieved a number of illegal nets that were stashed at various fishing locations.