Whitebait
Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along coasts, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught using fine-meshed fishing nets. Whitebaiting is the activity of catching whitebait.
Individual whitebait are tender and edible. The entire fish is eaten — including head, fins, bones, and bowels. Some species make better eating than others, and the particular species that are marketed as "whitebait" vary in different parts of the world.
As whitebait consists of immature fry of many important food species it is not an ecologically viable foodstuff and several countries impose strict controls on harvesting.
Whitebait by region
Alboran Sea
The Alboran Sea is the westernmost element of the Mediterranean Sea. Whitebait have been consumed as a favoured element of the diet of peoples living along the northern coasts of the Alboran Sea in Spain, even though sale of these products has been banned.Australia
In Australia whitebait refers to the juvenile stage of several predominantly galaxias species during their return to freshwater from the marine phase of their lifecycle.Species referred to as whitebait in Australia include common galaxias G. maculatus, climbing galaxias G. brevipinnis, spotted galaxias G. truttaceus, Tasmanian whitebait Lovettia sealii, Tasmanian mudfish Neochanna cleaveri, and Tasmanian smelt Retropinna tasmanica.
Whitebait were once subject to a substantial commercial fishery but today only recreational fishers are permitted to gather them, under strict conditions and for a limited season.
China
Chinese whitebait is raised in fish farms and plentiful quantities are produced for export. The frozen product is commonly available in food stores and supermarkets at reasonable prices. The Chinese name for these is often translated as "silver fish" in English.Italy
Gianchetti are the whitebait of the pesce azzurro of the Mediterranean, caught with special nets named from the Ligurian sciabegottu in the early months of the year.A speciality of the Liguria cuisine, gianchetti are generally lightly boiled in salted water and served hot, dressed with oil and lemon juice. Another classic approach is to make fritters of the fish together with an egg and flour batter; finally they may simply be dipped in flour and deep-fried. The gianchetti of a red colour are tougher and scaly to the palate; they are largely used to flavour fish-based sauces.
In Sicilian cuisine whitebait are known as ceruses. Whitebait are the principal ingredient of the Sicilian specialty croquette polpette di neonata; which are a type of rolled meatball of whitebait with parsley, and egg and/or a bit of flour to amalgamate, fried in olive oil or sometimes deep-fried in peanut oil.
In Neapolitan cuisine whitebait are known as cicenielli.
In Brindisian cuisine whitebait are known as chuma.
Japan
In Japan, the whitebait fishing industry is concentrated in Shizuoka Prefecture, where the major landing ports for them are situated. The shirasu boiled in salted hot water is called kamaage shirasu, and this product retains about 85% or greater water ratio.The boiled whitefish which are subsequently semi-dried are referred to generally as shirasuboshi, but this is in the wider sense of the term; in the stricter sense shirasuboshi refers to soft-dried products, and distinguished from chirimen-jako which are dried to harder consistency
The whitebait used in these shirasu products is generally the larvae of the Japanese anchovy, but in the vernacular Japanese language anchovy is called a type of sardine, thus shirasu may be described as sardine fry in some literature, though the larvae of clupeids do occur as bycatch in the shirasu being harvested. The shirasu landed in Shizuoka Prefecture consists of the 2–3 month old, and 1–2 cm length larvae of mostly Japanese anchovy, and a small proportion of Japanese pilchard, Sardinops sagax melanostictus, a subspecies of sardine.
One specialty product is the tatami iwashi, a paper-thin square wafer made from uncooked dry shirasu, spreading the washed fish thinly inside square molds then drying them, which has become an expensive delicacy.
New Zealand
whitebait are the juveniles of five galaxiid species which live as adults in freshwater rivers and streams. Four of these five species have been classified by the Department of Conservation as endangered. The whitebait are caught during their migration into freshwater habitats after their larval stage at sea. They are much smaller than Chinese or British whitebait, averaging 45–55 mm in length, and are around 15–22 weeks old.File:Okarito Whitebait MRD.webm|thumb|Freshly-caught whitebait in a bucket, Ōkārito, West Coast, New Zealand
The most common whitebait species in New Zealand is the common galaxias or inanga, which lays its eggs during the very high spring tides in autumn amongst bankside grasses that are flooded by the tide. The eggs develop out of the water until inundated by the next spring tide which stimulates the eggs to hatch. The larvae are then carried to sea on the outgoing tide where they join the ocean's plankton. After approximately six months, the juvenile fish migrate back into freshwater habitats where they mature to adulthood. The four other galaxiid species in New Zealand whitebait are the kōaro, banded kōkopu, giant kōkopu and shortjaw kōkopu. These species also spawn in bankside vegetation, but their spawning is triggered by autumn floods rather than tides.
New Zealand whitebait are caught in the lower reaches of the rivers using large, open-mouthed, hand-held scoop nets, long sock nets, or rigid, typically wedge-shaped set nets. Whitebaiters must constantly attend the nets in order to lift them as soon as a shoal enters the net; otherwise the whitebait quickly swim back out of the net. Whitebaiters may fish from platforms known as 'stands', which may include screens to direct the fish and systems for raising and lowering nets.
Whitebaiting in New Zealand is a seasonal activity with a legally fixed and limited period which spans part of the annual migration. The timing of the allowed fishing season is set to target the more common inanga, while avoiding the less common species that mainly migrate before and after the whitebaiting season. There is strict control over net sizes and rules against blocking the river or channelling the fish into the net; these measures allow some fish to reach the adult habitats. The whitebait themselves are very sensitive to objects in the river and are adept at dodging the nets.
Whitebait is a traditional food for Māori, and was widely eaten by European settlers in the 19th century. By the 20th century, the price of whitebait rose and it became known as a delicacy. Currently, it commands high prices to the extent that it is the most expensive fish on the market, when available. The wholesale price is typically, but the retail price can be up to. It is normally sold fresh in small quantities, although some are frozen to extend the sale period. Nevertheless, whitebait can normally only be purchased during or close after the netting season. The most popular way of cooking whitebait in New Zealand is the whitebait fritter, which is essentially an omelette containing whitebait. Purists use only the egg white in order to minimise interfering with the taste of the bait.
The degradation of waterways through forest clearance, and the impacts of agriculture and urbanisation, have caused the whitebait catch to decline. The loss of suitable spawning habitat has been particularly severe, especially for inanga, which rely on dense riparian vegetation lining the tidal portions of waterways. Amongst other factors, a lack of shade over waterways has been shown to kill developing whitebait eggs.
Taiwan
According to the Fisheries Agency of Taiwan, whitebait refers to juveniles of anchovy and clupeidae, and mostly are buccaneer anchovy, shorthead anchovy, and Japanese anchovy. Their adult form can grow up to about 10 centimetres long, but they are not popular in the local market and are usually used as fishing bait.Taiwan's geographical environment facilitates the movement of whitebait to feeding areas, such as estuaries and bays, through the action of currents and tides. Therefore, several fishing grounds for whitebait are available in Taiwan. Main production areas of Whitebait include Tamsui, Toucheng, and Fangliao. The catch varies between approximately 500 and 3,450 tons. Seine fishing is the common method used to catch whitebait.
In Taiwan, while most whitebait consist of anchovies and clupeids, which occucpied 85% of the total catch, some other juvenile fish may also be caught, including juvenile mackerel, skipjack tuna, ribbonfish, bombay duck, moonfish, and daggertooth pike conger. The breeding season from June to August is the most likely time to get other juvenile fish. Other juvenile fish can occucpied 76.65% of the total catch in extrme cases. For this reason, the government of Taiwan prohibits catching whitebait from May to September. The catch was around 1,000 tons after the prohibiting order.
Concerns about catching other juvenile fish have increased among the local public, and they have therefore tried to launch a boycott of whitebait, or even a government ban on catching whitebait., a Taiwanese writer and conservationist, wrote an essay in 2011 calling for a boycott of whitebait, believing that fish depletion in Taiwan resulted from overfishing whitebait. His essay had been spread in Facebook and news press. Some other conservationists described whitebait as "more than 200 species of juvenile fish were caught". Ming-Anne Lee, local expert of whitebait, opposed the claim of "200 species". Some questioned about the government's enforcement in 2013. In 2021, Lee reported that other juvenile fish accounted for less than 10% of the total catch. He therefore concluded that the government's enforcement is effective and can prevent catching other juvenile fish. The Taiwan Ocean Conservation and Fisheries Sustainability Foundation listed whitebait as "consume with caution" on the guideline of consuming fish in 2021, citing the concern of catching other juvenile fish by given the way of fishing whitebait, and the fact that whitebait are also food of other larger fish.