ESTABLISHING THE HATCHERY 



ECONOMIC 

 CONSIDERATIONS 



The bait dealer should consider 

 local economic conditions before he 

 establishes a minnow hatchery. 

 The most important factor is the 

 retail price of the minnows. This 

 price must be high enough to pay 

 production costs plus a fair profit. 

 If artificial ponds have to be con- 

 structed, the price received for the 

 minnows must be high enough to 

 pay off the principal and interest 

 on the investment. Topography 

 and land values must be such as to 

 allow the selection or construction 

 of a sufficient number of ponds for 

 a practical business. One small 

 pond is not enough for a sound, 

 full-time business. 



The successful dealer considers 

 the following points to avoid pro- 

 ducing fish that he cannot sell : 



1. Which bait fishes are in greatest 

 demand in the local market? 



2. What size minnows do the fisher- 

 men want? It is important to know 

 whether the minnows to be raised arti- 

 ficially will reach that size in one or two 

 seasons. 



3. In which months do the fishermen 

 need minnows in the greatest number? 

 The dealer must determine whether the 

 pond minnows will be of commercial size 

 in those months. Some species may be 

 too large and others may be too small 

 at the height of the fishing season. 



4. Is there a natural supply of the 

 popular species? In Minnesota, for ex- 

 ample, fathead minnows are in great 

 demand for crappie fishing, but these fish 

 are so abundant in the natural waters 

 of the State that artificial propagation 

 is not profitable. 



5. Do any habits of a popular species 

 of bait fish make its propagation unprofit- 

 able? 



6. How hardy are the popular species? 

 Those fish needed during hot weather 

 must be able to stand seining and han- 

 dling when water temperatures are high. 

 In Minnesota, there is a demand for 

 golden shiners in the summer, but the 

 fish are too delicate to stand normal 

 handling in warm water ; consequently, 

 the golden shiner is raised only for the 

 use of winter fishermen. While it is 

 possible for the dealers to use special 

 methods of handling the shiners during 

 warm weather, the fisherman is still con- 

 fronted with a delicate minnow that re- 

 quires special treatment in the minnow 

 pail. 



7. What special handling do the fish 

 require? Bait fishes raised for winter 

 fishing require special holding facilities 

 and suitable food for several months. 



TYPES OF PONDS 



A practical hatchery can be oper- 

 ated with either natural or artificial 

 ponds — the choice depends to a 

 la.rge extent on the location of the 

 hatchery. Artificial ponds are ex- 

 pensive to build on sand and gravel 

 soils and are rarely profitable be- 

 cause of the added costs of ferti- 

 lizing and pumping. Fortunately, 



