Department of Conservation staff are patrolling some of Canterbury's most popular whitebaiting rivers in stab-proof vests as tensions between fishers continue to spill over into violence ahead of the new season.
DOC says competition for lucrative whitebaiting spots has become so heated that staff now regularly conduct joint patrols with police, with officers facing situations involving knives and physical confrontations.
"People have access to knives and that sort of thing," DOC ranger Andy Thompson said.
"We did have an incident last year where we had to call police for support and we do a lot of joint police-DOC patrols."
The increased security measures come as whitebait season approaches, when thousands of people are expected to line riverbanks across Canterbury.
"This gets really busy," Thompson said.
"There will be people spaced every 20 metres down both sides of the river here and competition for the sites is pretty intense."
Competition for prized Canterbury fishing spots has sparked violence and police callouts, with DOC and Ngāi Tūāhuriri hoping for a safer season. (Source: 1News)
Long-running disputes over access to whitebaiting sites and customary fishing rights have prompted Ngāi Tūāhuriri to place a temporary rāhui on customary whitebaiting activities at several rivers this year.
The hapū says the move was made because of escalating safety concerns after years of abuse and violence.
"Misunderstanding or ignorance of our rights and responsibilities has triggered violence, has triggered abuse, resentment," Ngāi Tūāhuriri Tangata Tiaki committee secretary Te Marino Lenihan said.
He said confrontations had become a regular feature of the season.
"It turns into physical abuse down here and it has turned violent and over these past five years almost every year ended up in hospital."
The rāhui affects customary permits, which allow hapū members to fish for whitebait two weeks before the general season opens and for a month after it closes. It will not affect fishing during the standard whitebait season.
The disputes come as conservation groups warn whitebait populations are under increasing pressure.
Forest & Bird's Nicky Snoyink said all six whitebait species are threatened and at risk of extinction.
"The peculiar thing about whitebait is there is no bag limit on it and no licence to fish it unlike other species, so people have a free range out there to catch as much as they can."
Both DOC and Ngāi Tūāhuriri are hoping the coming season will be safer than those that have gone before.
"What I'd really like to see this season is just a little more respect and a little more responsibility," Thompson said.
"Respect for each other, respect for the rules, respect for the river, the īnanga."
For Ngāi Tūāhuriri, the issue goes beyond access to a delicacy.
"Hunting and gathering, collecting food is important not just because of the food, but the platform it provides to keep people connected between generations, between families, between hapū," Lenihan said.
But with DOC officers now wearing stab-proof vests on patrol and police expected to have a presence on the rivers, authorities acknowledge tempers can flare as quickly as the competition for a prized spot on the bank.
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