Very much to the point Bill, and you are correct in that I have already accepted the input will be much greater than the return monetarily. It is very much a hobby, one I hope to continue. If I can fill a need while getting an education I would consider that a success. As for "long-term", that's a good question and one of the reasons the folks I work with at the state level are supporting me in this. By keeping that door open and working with them with proper permits, I may have the opportunity to obtain species not available in other situations, one being Saugeye. They stock these in fry form only but have a need for several hundred intermediates every year that logistically, doesn't work with hatchery space. Is this a target?
Ken, I think you were to do this you would sell out every year. The demand for non-reproducing fish that are of advance fingerling size is good and the supply of saugeye is nihil. The challenges here is fish density and feeding them to an advanced fingerling size. If on natural foods, the limit for most predators is around 400 lbs/acre. But if feed trained the density can be much higher which is what most hatcheries do for raising advanced fingerlings.
