WHAT ARE WHITEBAIT?

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 14, 12 October 1943, Page 6

WHAT ARE WHITEBAIT?

Sea-spawned Fry Of The Inanga “What are whitebait?” is a question argued every year by many people during the limited season in which this delicacy is available. The answer was given by a Government inspector of fisheries (Mr. M. Hope) when he said that whitebait are the fry of the fish known to the Maoris as inanga. The inanga lays its eggs in a gluey substance on the shore line at the top of spring tides, said Mr. Hope, and there they remain attached to vegetation till the next spring tide comes in. By the time the tide arrives the substance in, which the eggs are laid has So reacted to the weather that the tide takes the loosened eggs out to sea with it. Swept out to sea, the eggs hatch in the salt water and iu due course the whitebait, as fry, return to the rivers, seeking fresh water in which to complete their life cycle. It is during the run of the fish upstream that the whitebait fishermen are busy, but those fish which are not taken reach the head waters of the river and there grow to maturity.

The full-sized inanga, much prized by the Maori, is about six or eight inches in length and very good eating. When the time comes, the inanga'go down the river lyrain and spawn on the tide level, and the cycle begins afresh.