Is the whitebait fritter at risk?

It helps to understand whats actually in a whitebait fritter.

'Whitebait' is a collective terms for the juvenile stage of six native fish species: kōaro, īnanga, shortjaw kōkopu, giant kōkopu, common smelt, and banded kōkopu. Of these, īnanga are the most commonly caught, making up 90% of the whitebait catch. 

This masks a concerning reality: their numbers are declining...very sharply,  in some areas. They are classfied as 'Threatened: Nationally Vulnerable' under the DOC threat classification guidelines.

A diurnal (migratory) species, īnanga are washed out to sea after they hatch. There, they become an important part of the marine food web. As they grow, they migrate back to freshwater environments, where some are caught as whitebait.

Once they mature, they look to spawn. 

Their spawning habitat relies on riverside and wetland habitat, at the highest point of the saltwater high tide. 

This is the biggest threat to īnanga. New Zealand has drained 95% of its wetland habitat, and the remaining īnanga spawning habitat is at risk from:

● Urban development and river modification

● Vegetation clearance and mowing

● Livestock access and bank erosion

● Poor water quality and sedimentation

● Climate change and sea-level rise

● Habitat fragmentation and invasive species

● Egg predation from introduced predators like rats 

By arming iwi/hapū, landowners, farmers, conservation groups, and local government with the knowledge and digital tools to monitor, protect, and restore īnanga spawning habitat, we can help turn the tide for īnanga.

NĪSP started in Northland, and has since started rolling out across the country. As funding allows, our network of national provider organisations works on the ground with locals to identify and retore habitat, one awa at a time. 

While the programme is still young, it has proved incredibly popular with conservation groups, and is easy to scale.

With the right support, we might yet be able to save the whitebait fritter.