Whitebaiting with a pole net near the mouth of the Okarito River, Westland. Many visit the West Coast at the same time every year for the whitebait fishing "ritual." Holiday is combined with whitebaiting in what is a long family tradition for many. I'm not sure if you can be called a true "Coaster" unless you were born there. The 2001 census showed the total resident population for the whole of the West Coast to be just 30,300 people. This population is spread along hundreds of miles of coastline. However tourist numbers in the past decade have increased considerably.