Illegal whitebaiting incidents have surged 35% in South Westland as Department of Conservation staff consider whether to prosecute for the more than 50 breaches they discovered this year.
Doc South Westland area manager Jo Macpherson said the department was investigating more than 50 alleged breaches of the Whitebait Fishing (West Coast) Regulations this season, compared with the 37 offences which took place in 2009.
She attributed the higher number of detected breaches for the 2010 season, which ended a month ago, to an increase in patrols by Doc staff.
Whitebaiting hotspots around Haast, such as the Waiatoto River, had not experienced as much activity because of affected river and fishing conditions.
The mouth of the Waiatoto River had changed this season, which meant there was less whitebaiting around the lagoon and a corresponding drop in detected offences, she said.
The most common whitebaiting offences recorded by Doc officers were people leaving their nets unattended (fishers not staying within 10m of their net) and fishing more than a third of the total waterway channel.
Doc "warranted officers" had made several trips to the remote Cascade and Paringa Rivers and those inspections had resulted in net seizures for fishing offences, Ms Macpherson said.
People found breaching whitebaiting regulations could be liable for prosecution and a fine from a court judge.
During the 2009 season, the 37 offences recorded by South Westland Doc staff led to eight successful prosecutions, Ms Macpherson said.
A late season run by whitebait resulted in several confirmed catches of more than 100kg by some fishermen in the Haast area this year.
The "general atmosphere" on rivers this year was a lot more amicable, Ms Macpherson said.
"Last year's season was particularly heated on some of the rivers, particularly the Waiatoto.
"[We] put considerable resources into patrolling South Westland rivers this season, about 1000 staff hours compared to the 850 hours in 2009."
It was too soon to say how many prosecutions might be undertaken by Doc for whitebaiting breaches for the 2010 season, she said.
In 2009, 12 people were prosecuted for illegal whitebaiting.
Four people were offered police diversion, while the remaining eight were convicted and issued fines of between $130 and $1000 as well as court costs, Ms Macpherson said.
