You can't make a whitebait fritter without whitebait and the small delicate fish require a healthy wetland environment to survive.
The whitebait catch from the Kaituna River has dropped, from a reported 20 tonnes each season at the end of WWII, to less than 100kg in recent years.

The reduction is mostly attributed to the conversion of swamp to farmland.
In the Bay of Plenty, only 1.5 per cent of the freshwater wetlands which existed in 1940 now remain. Off-river wetland lagoons, ponds and creeks are the preferred habitat for inanga, the predominant species in most rivers' whitebait runs.
The remaining whitebait has a better chance of survival in the Kaituna River thanks to the efforts of some volunteers.
They are building and improving spawn sites including the excavation of more ponds at the Borrow Pits four years ago.

Planting of native species, aquatic and terrestrial weed control and predator trapping, has made ongoing improvements to this area.

Numbers of rearing inanga have increased each season since the ponds were established and with ongoing management can be expected to keep increasing.
Plans for more ponds along the river are underway and volunteers are welcome.
A field trip is planned for Saturday, March 19 to inspect the borrow pits and look at some of the fish, plants and pests that live in and around the site.
For further information about the field trip, phone Bev on 07 533 4247 or Carole 07 542 0224.