WHITEBAIT ARE IN

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 141, 1 July 1937, Page 6

WHITEBAIT ARE IN

Netting Season Opens V„ To-day * > BRIGHT PROSPECT? Prospects are bright for the white- . bait season, which opens to-day. It ii doubtful if Hawke's Bay rivers will be able to provide any of the delicacy for a little whiie yet, but reports from Auckland and other places indicate that a good supply will be available. If fine weather continues the whitebait should begin their run of the Hawke's Bay rivers before. long, but last night's rain, which broke a spell of fine weather, will not improve the position. The fish have been seen already in the vicinity of the Napier Breakwater, but so far seaxchers in the Ngaruroro river at Clive have not been / rewarded with any signs by which to; forcast the prospects for the opening of the season. Whitebait have been seen at the mouth of the river, but as yet they have not begun to run. In view of the warmer weather better supplies than last year are anticipated, and it is expected that tb® prices ruling during the early part of the season will he lower than they were last year. The present .season will end at midnight on November 14. Good quantities of whitebait have already been seen running in the rivers and streams of the Waikato district, which provide the chief -Auckland ^ supply. Wellington prospects are less promising,. cold weather and recent flooding tending to reduce the yields. The supply of whitebait depends entirely upon the weather, a fine spell resulting in an abundance of fish. Rain tends to discolour the . water and makes inshore fishing difficult. The running of the whitebait does not syntdiipnise exactly with the normal opening the season. Seldom are big hauls madeyin July, and when they are, it cannoft .be taken as an indication of % good or ihqd season. Last yecjf there waa a remarkable scarcity untVl_ late in the season, and the year befofi| supplies were scarce until Septembe* after which a very satisfactory sea|on was experienced, a copsiderabl© quamtity being exported to Australia. . \ Whitebait is 4aid to have figured largely in the spi>ringtime diet of the pre-pakeha New kealander. Whitebait fishing is to a greaj, extent the prerogative of the Maoiji people, especially the women and gTirls. They catch the fish by using inge)tnous weirs and fish traps, and with seine nets. A simple, but effective, schefae, evolved by the Alaori of old, was to dig a shallow ditoh in the doufnstream side of a shingle-spit, so th^,t the. current seeping through the gtavel would flow out of the ditch moutA. The inanga, swimming upstream wfould entor what they, presumably woult [ mistake for a tributary channel. It is contrary to their nature to swim 1 lownstream, so, when they find ihemsfelves in a cul-de-sac, ^they gather expettantly at the head of the ditch, still Jfacing upstream, and wait for the wilyr Maori to block their retreat and. net Ahem at jeisure. The present-daly method of catching the fish involvesv the use of a scoopnet, made of aboin^ three yards of mosquito netting faihioned into a rough bag and attachew to a circular frame with a pole. hajidle. The instrumenfc ciosely resemblafe a gigantic butterfly net. j The mode ofj fishing is simple. The fisherman takefg up a position on tho bank preferably on a rough platform overlooking tb\e water a foot or two deep. Often hw will build a crude ehelter over the jflatform in case of rough weather. A'white-painted Eheet of tiu ntfay be plaifcd on the bed of the stream as a foackground against which the fish can j be seen easily. The whitebait swim upstream, nosing their way along the bank in shoals and giving the / fisherman the opportunity to scoop tl*em out of the water. Many fishermen leave their nets surik on the bottom ar/d lift them when they see a shoal passfng above them. Uhtil faiirly recently there was no close seasibn for whitebait, but the Fisheries lbepartment now has control. °f the fish.Y Regulations restricting whitebait fishing were enforced in November, 1932, ^s a result of a progressive decrease in \stocks.