A whitebaiting expert claims the shorter whitebait season could push prices of the white gold through the roof and clog up rivers with those keen to catch the delicacy.
The Department of Conservation changed the season to just 60 days this year, running from the start of September to the end of October.
Whitebait is a collective term for young Galaxidae a native New Zealand fish which are considered a delicacy
Richard Davidson from Davo's Fishing and Hunting told Rural Exchange it was important to look after the six species that make up whitebait because they could become extinct - but reducing the season would have a flow-on effect on rivers right across the country.
"With only two months of whitebaiting, it's going to put a lot of pressure on the rivers because you've only got eight weeks or eight weekends for the nine to five workers."
He wasn't convinced DOC's measurements of declining numbers were correct and they'd got the new rules right because he had seen some huge catches and whitebait even running up the rivers in January and February.
Some whitebaiters had even paid significant amounts of money for their stands over the years. Some values on the West Coast were estimated to be in excess of $100,000.
Whitebating the Opihi River August 2021, photo supplied from Davo's Fishing Hunting Sport
"You've got to have an income to sustain that cost that you've incurred, so now we're taking all this time off the whitebaiters," he said.
"When there's a livelihood involved, they'll be taking as much as they can in that short period of time that they've got and, of course, your prices in whatever market, the black market or the retail side of it in the supermarket, the price of whitebait is going to be horrific."
Check out the full interview with Rural Exchange and Richard Davidson above.
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