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Kōrero: West Coast places

Nolan’s whitebait cannery

Image
Nolan’s whitebait cannery

At the Nolan family’s whitebait cannery at Ōkuru, which ran from 1928 to 1952, whitebait were sorted (top) and then canned (bottom). Before the introduction of refrigeration, canning was the only effective way to preserve large quantities of whitebait. In its time the Nolan cannery was the largest whitebait cannery in the country.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: AAQT 6401/A3084 (top); AAQT 6536/A3085 (bottom)

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Simon Nathan, West Coast places – The far south, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/21151/nolans-whitebait-cannery (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Simon Nathan, i tāngia i te 3 March 2009.