Fishing for Sale 265 



marketable-sized largemouths in addition to the buffalo fish. Where bass 

 could be sold legally, they brought 15 to 25 cents per pound dressed and 

 somewhat more when sold ali\e for stocking in private lakes and catch-out 

 ponds. Assuming a 500-pound-per-acre yield of buflFalo fish at 12 cents 

 per pound and an 80-pound-per-acre yield of bass at 15 cents, a grower 

 could receive $72 per acre for each 2-year rotation. Probably less than 40 

 per cent or $13.50 per acre per year would represent net income. ^^ Fre- 

 quently, lease of trespass rights or the sale of daily permits to fish and 

 to shoot waterfowl exceeded the commercial sale of fish; this represented 

 additional income. 



Rice-field reservoirs cannot be constructed everywhere this crop is 

 grown, but as fields must hold water for its production, additional heights 

 added to levees at a cost of $10 to $60 per acre may allow a rice-fish 

 rotation, with further potential use for bass fishing and duck hunting. 



Fish Management Service 



Perhaps the newest commercial operation associated with sport fishing 

 —and one very badly needed in some regions— is fish and lake manage- 

 ment service. King ^- reports that five years is the average "productive 

 life" of a pond without renovation and restocking. 



Since on large country estates artificial ponds and lakes continue to 

 present diverse problems to their owners, this service may involve any 

 and/or all of the management operations described in this book. More 

 common needs, however, are chemical treatment for the control of algae 

 and obnoxious rooted aquatic vegetation, or the renovation through 

 chemical treatment of lakes that have become contaminated with un- 

 desirable fish and their restocking with desirable ones. 



In some states a limited amount of this type of extension service has 

 been furnished to private clubs and individuals by state-employed fishery 

 biologists. However, as more state-owned reservoirs are built for public 

 recreation, state biologists will have less time to devote to the problems of 

 private lake owners. 



As with most businesses, working capital and training are necessary 

 for a start. The latter may be obtained at universities giving courses in 

 fishery biology and management, as well as basic courses in zoology, 

 botany, physics, and chemistry. 



Conceivably, one might set up a lake management service ofiBce in 

 one's own home, but much of the equipment used ( boats, trailers, pumps, 

 seines, etc.) is radier bulky and requires a large storage space, usually 

 lacking in the average yard or its accessory buildings. Moreover, ponds 

 are useful for holding a supply of fish while one is engaged in a lake- 

 renovation operation or in stocking a new lake. Thus, a physical situation 

 is required that either furnishes or has the potential to provide office and 



