Bringing whitebait back to Christchurch rivers

Scientists are using hay bales to try and get whitebait, or inanga, to spawn in Christchurch rivers.

Before the Canterbury earthquakes the region's rivers were the perfect spawning spot for whitebait, but the February 2011 quake shifted river banks and disrupted river flows and habitats.

Five of the country's six whitebait species are in decline, and the Whaka Inaka project aims to try and bring them back to city's rivers.

6-9 month old inanga

Juvenile whitebait

Installing hay bales along the Heathcote River to create spawning points for whitebait.

Marker pegs on Lake Kate Shepherd

Assessing sites along the Heathcote River

The Whaka Inaka team installing bales with the help of volunteers on the 30 January 2016.

Temporary spawning points for inaka, the most common type of whitebait in the city, have been set up using 200 straw bales along 3km stretches of the Heathcote River and Avon rivers.

Canterbury University's Mike Hickford, who is one of the scientists involved in the project, talks to Kathryn Ryan about the project: