A State Hatchery is like a printing press of money that never runs out. It provides fish for fishing, which is an affordable form of relaxation and entertainment, relieves stress, and promotes family time. Fishing can keep people busy and creates interest in the environment. License fees, tourism dollars, and taxes on fishing related equipment are enormous, profitable, and stimulate the economies of communities and states.

People have said that they are not sure that they agree with the statement that concentrating fishermen occasionally geographically on land or on water makes sense.  Instead they would rather see them distributed over larger areas. Would this reduce the overall damage and any costs to clean or repair it over diverse areas?

The truth is that damage of the underwater fish habitat is hard to understand. Most fish and their natural food supply chain requires plants that when missing or destroyed are slow to recover. In some cases, recovery is slower than related fish which grow in certain life stages. Fish also use plants to hide and nest in but can’t if the plants have been destroyed by props, oars, anchors, and fishing lures. Throwing money at the problem is less efficient as the area of the problem expands.

Because we can see it, trash is an easier part of the problem to understand. Consider that a can of campground trash spread over an acre of ground takes most of an hour and about $9.00 in labor to clean up. If you spread the same amount of trash over 1,000 acres it will cost a lot of time and $10,000 to $40,000 to clean up. Some will never be found. If part of that 1,000 acres is water, the cost will double or triple.

Time has proven that even well-meaning knowledgeable fishermen accidentally or unknowingly cause damage. For most of the fishing population, the result is far worse. The only way we can manage the problem is to motivate them not to spread out as much. Chasing fish to catch them is not very efficient or even satisfying for the fishermen or the environment. The MagnaBait motivates the fish to travel to the fisherman. That way everybody wins and management costs are lower. If these costs are not kept in check, governments simply can’t afford to protect most of the environment.

The other comment we often get is the idea that if the MagnaBait is super effective, won't it damage the fish population?  Even with MagnaBaits great calling power the fact that it will concentrate fishing activities in areas convenient for the fishermen, the remaining  unstressed habitat is unburdened and can efficiently perform its normal function: that is to breed and grow lots of fish. Besides which nearly every state monitors its fish stocks frequently and adjusts the fishermen’s limit of every species on an annual basis.

Hatcheries and aquaculture have been used for decades to supplement fish stocks in the appropriate size and numbers. Tourism dollars and taxes bring in dozens of times more dollars than aquaculture costs. Historically it has been the most profitable activity the state performs. In addition, the state sells fishing licenses for even more money. You can rest assured that few if any states will knowingly allow fish stocks to drop because the solution is easy and relatively inexpensive.

Keep in mind that fish are constantly patrolling and on the lookout for a “better” home. When a fish is caught, another fish will usually take over the premises in a day or two, sometimes in minutes or hours.

We of course hope that the MagnaBait will be a big seller for decades. With over 40,000,000 recreational fishermen in North America, we’ll probably never sell to more than about one or two percent of them at most. This would hardly be noticeable if at all in the fish population.

Since MagnaBait is disposable and runs on batteries we get asked what has been done to protect the environment? First of all our track record for battery pollution containment is nearly unmatchable. The MagnaBait is in a sealed structure made from the same plastic as football helmets. This extra cost on our part assures that if a MagnaBait is lost, the contents of its batteries is very unlikely to leach into the ecosystem.

Moreover, if they get lost, MagnaBaits are designed to float and eventually come to shore. People find them and either dispose of them or call our 800 number (molded onto each unit) for disposal instructions. This method is so effective that when several were smashed out of their storage building in the Florida Keys by Hurricane Wilma, dozens of people found them on the shore and called us. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the farthest call came from Newfoundland, Canada, a distance of over 2,000 miles. Nearly all the units were eventually accounted for. We know of no other program to protect the environment from battery pollution that is nearly so effective.

Further environmental goodness is the fact that our batteries last a long time, usually over 200 hours of continous functioning. Can you name any other product that works so long on one set of batteries? Neither can we. Few products offer more than a few hours at most. This means fewer batteries get worn out and need to be disposed of.  Good for you and the enviornment.

Overall we are committed to better fisheries and environment and will continually look for ways to improve Magnabait to support both into the future - it is good for all of us.