We have seen loads of signs advertising whitebait down the coast from about Westport onwards, but many of them have been in rural areas, and on much cruder signs than this, with rough wooden blocks and using white paint. Whitebait is a speciality in this area of New Zealand.
In my naivety I had imagined that whitebait was one type of fish, but apparently this is not so. There are five different kinds along the coast here and the most commonly fished is the inanaga. The fishes do what salmon do and swim upstream in summer and back towards the sea in autumn. The females lay their eggs in the lower parts of the rivers and when the spring tides bring salt water into the river mouths, the small inanga return to the sea.
Jean
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