Whitebait

I read a recent topic in the Sea Angling Ireland forum on how nice cooked whitebait are for eating. Am I right in thinking that whitebait is just a term for small imature fish? - in which case eating them seems to be bad practice.

These are usually sprats which as far as I know are mature at a couple of inches. I may be mistaken though... They are delicious though....

Whitebait are immature fish they are herring fry we catch them regularly when netting sandeel. Yum! Yum! Herring fry are some of the most numerous fish in the sea so no need to worry