There are fears that New Zealanders may love whitebait into extinction.
Forest and Bird is calling for fishing of the endangered native species to be regulated before it's too late.
Freshwater conservation advocate Annabeth Cohen says people need to learn to fish in moderation.
"We need something like a catch limit so that we know that we're not catching them all," she told The AM Show on Friday. "Nobody wants to eat the last whitebait."
Cohen said it's bizarre there aren't already regulations in place.
"It's the only fishery that does not have a catch limit; does not have a quota," she said.
The Indigenous Freshwater Fish Amendment Bill was passed last month which gives the Government more powers to regulate and protect the whitebait population, particularly in protected areas.
Conservation Minster Eugenie Sage said out of New Zealand's 56 species of whitebait, 70 percent were threatened or at risk of extinction.
The bill however has led to uncertainty about the future of whitebaiting, National's conservation spokesperson Sarah Dowie said.
"West Coast whitebaiters have invested heavily in their whitebaiting stands, which are essentially a permit to use a particular spot where a structure can be set up," she said in a press release on Saturday.
