Skip to main content

Story: Whitebait and whitebaiting

Whitebait stands

Image
Whitebait stands

These whitebait stands are on the Ōkuru estuary in South Westland. Ropes and pulleys raise the structures above damaging floods. Screens placed in slots along the stand create barriers that baffle the whitebait as they swim alongside river banks where the current is slacker. Trying to find a way past the screen, the fish move to its outer edge, and enter a net.

Using this item

Department of Conservation

Reference: 10054041

by Philippe Gerbeaux

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Whitebait and whitebaiting – Nets, screens and canneries, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11704/whitebait-stands (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 1 March 2009.