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Story: Whitebait and whitebaiting

Nolan’s whitebait cannery

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Nolan’s whitebait cannery

At the Nolan family’s whitebait cannery on the West Coast, whitebait are sorted (top) and then canned. Before the advent of refrigeration, canning was the only effective way to preserve large quantities of whitebait. In its time the Nolan cannery was the largest in the country. It ran from 1928 to 1952.

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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.

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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/11706/nolans-whitebait-cannery (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 1 March 2009.