After a quiet, wet start to the West Coast whitebait season at the weekend, Department of Conservation (Doc) officials are warning whitebaiters of their "strict liability" to know and comply with regional whitebait regulations.
Shane Cross, a programme manager at Doc's Hokitika office, said the compliance of whitebaiters with regulations and their general behaviour had been improving in recent years.
Nevertheless, it was important for people visiting the area - and for locals - to familiarise themselves with key details of West Coast whitebait regulations.
"It's strict liability stuff. It's up to the individual to know."
People would be wise to visit a West Coast Doc office if they were unsure of the region's regulations, which varied from those applying in some other parts of the country.
Individual whitebaiters may have been able to catch enough for a few patties since the West Coast season started on Saturday, he said.
It rained over the weekend, and rivers were running high -"bank to bank"- yesterday, in a quiet start to the season.
There were substantial penalties for people who breached regulations, and the police were quickly called if aggressive behaviour among whitebaiters was encountered, he said.
Most people were well behaved, but, given the high value of whitebait, an element of greed could creep in and the occasional aggressive behaviour of a small minority of people - including some jersey-pulling - at times suggested "fightbait" rather than "whitebait", he said.
Under West Coast regulations, whitebaiters were required to remain within 10m of their nets while fishing, and whitebaiting was subject to a series of other regulations designed to protect the resource.
Everyone could enjoy themselves during the whitebait season, provided they complied with the regulations and consideration was shown for other people fishing nearby.
It was also important for people to remain conscious of the need for water safety and "respect their skill levels always", he said.
Rebecca Dore, sales manager at West Coast whitebait firm Cascade Whitebait, said the weather on the coast was not "that flash" over the weekend.
"It's Mother Nature - you never know what's going to happen, you're at her mercy, so it's just wait and see.
"There's been a little bit that's come up the river but it's early days, so it's hard to tell.
"It usually takes a week or so to get moving."
The company used a small plane to transport its catch from the Cascade River, in the Haast area, to Christchurch.
She said the whitebaiting season had begun relatively quietly.
