Little fish, big issue on next conservation minister's plate

Wednesday, 28 October 2020

EDITORIAL: They are a small, transparent delicacy but for the incoming minister of conservation they will represent a big test that is far from clear-cut.

Whitebait will be among the pressing issues in the in-tray of the new minister when the Government gets back to work.

It's unclear whether Eugenie Sage will be offered a chance to retain the conservation portfolio – Labour has no need to accommodate a Green minister in its new cabinet. But there is a good case that someone with Sage’s store of environmental knowledge, experience and respect should be reappointed.

It was her indigenous freshwater fish legislation last year that cleared the way to tackle some whitebaiting threats such as loss of spawning sites, barriers to fish passage and noxious fish.

**READ MORE:

* Possible shorter season or area bans for whitebaiting

* Whitebait fishery suffering 'death by one thousand cuts', Forest and Bird says

* Whitebaiter blames 'chick scientists' for Government proposals

* Indigenous freshwater fish amendment bill could led to changes for whitebaiters

* West Coast whitebaiters can't keep 'head in the sand' but fishing won't be banned - MP

* 'Absolutely no plans' to ban whitebaiting, conservation minister says

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But it’s the human fishing threat that has caused the most concern. Department of Conservation proposals to tackle that went out to the public in January this year. They include banning exports, restricting fishing equipment, limiting upstream fishing, reducing the season, and closing some rivers to whitebaiting for up to 10 years.

For those who regard the tasty juveniles of native fish as an essential part of their Kiwi birthright, the response from some was disgust, and a denial that whitebait stocks are under threat.

On the other side are those who say that the proposals don’t nearly go far enough, arguing for catch limits, a licensing regime, and stopping commercial sales in New Zealand, if not an outright fishing ban.

Sage has been at pains to say there are no plans to ban sales, introduce catch limits or licensing, despite backing for such proposals in an earlier DOC survey. She appeared to be charting a middle course with the presumed hope that most will abide by it, and perhaps avoid political fallout in election year.

Covid-19 has delayed the proposals, but what is clear is that action is already overdue. Four of the six whitebait species are classified as threatened or at risk of extinction.

The impact from overfishing, as opposed to degraded habitats or predation by introduced fish, is poorly understood. That in itself is an alarming gap in the debate that should be filled. However, it can’t be sustainable to have a fishery that allows unlimited catches, few sale regulations, and which commands lucrative prices.

Wading into the issue this week was DOC director-general Lou Sanson. He joined chief science adviser Ken Hughey for a spot of whitebaiting on the West Coast’s Mōkihinui​ River, where Hughey’s family have fished for decades.

It's a waterway flagged as a potential whitebait refuge under the DOC proposals, prompting criticism from environmentalists that the Facebook photo of Sanson and Hughey’s catch was “not a good look”.

Sanson says he has no problem with whitebaiting, providing people follow the rules to make fishing fair for everyone and protect the species.

Easier said than done. A tougher solution pushed by Forest & Bird would impose catch limits, which apply to other fish and shellfish species, such as longfin eels, which are similarly threatened.

DOC says it could not recommend catch limits for whitebait because the enormous number of fishing locations would make enforcement impossible.

So, welcome new minister of conservation. Your mission is to stop whitebait following in the sad wake of New Zealand’s only extinct freshwater fish, the grayling or upokororo​, which went from plentiful to virtually non-existent in the latter half of the 19th century.