1:15 pm today

The case for ethical whitebait

From Afternoons, 1:15 pm today

First up on the menu this afternoon: whitebait. 

This seafood delicacy is traditionally enjoyed as a fritter between two slices of white bread, but can also come with a dollop of guilt.

Whitebait are juvenile fish specific to just six species and four of those are in decline here or threatened.

But the launch of a new business venture may make it a bit easier to swallow.

By breeding its own juveniles, Manāki Whitebait - the country's first commercial whitebait farm - reduces the pressure on wild stocks.

General Manager, Casey Leatherby talks to Jesse.

Whitebait in egg.

Whitebait Photo: Kennedy Warne