I'm sure if your testing goes well and it is cheap enough then it will sell.

I mentioned the pot pulling problem to my youngest brother, a non fisherman.  He is going to try and engineer a way to actually prevent your pots from being pulled by anybody but you.

In a quick 1 hour of brain storming he came up with 2 ideas but both, without costing them, seemed a bit expensive. With some more thought and some serious costing then i'm sure something can be sorted.

On that thought, what would you out there be prepared to pay, per pot, for a system to prevent anybody else pulling them??

My thoughts were from $50-80.

Merv

 Don't wanna sound like an asshole, but what's gonna stop someone damaging the pot to get the crays out? Not hard to pop a couple of batterns off with a claw hammer...

Illegal here but has merit

http://www.fullonfishing.co.nz/contents/en-uk/p2322_Cray_Pot_Float_Timer.html

 ...but I believe fisheries themselves have to be able to pull your pots, in order to check dimensions/escape gaps/type of bait/etc. Highly unlikely that they would, and something like an anode timer would be very difficult for them to cotton on to, but preventing them from being able to inspect the gear could draw a penalty....

All I can say is it will cost you your time only to do it is that simple . No money out lay . Good to see the post.

 In water balloons . On ropes 10 feet down. You know where it is they wouldn't . Make a mess of boat.:):)

Ive seen and used anode timers many years back and are great but how much weight would you need to hold the float under and not walk the pot

 A pin number or code you have to punch into the float /rope, that disconnects the rope from the pot if its not put in or put in wrong?

Something along those lines?

a float with pin code so if floats come out of water armed small electric charge to shock rope(strand of stainless wire in rope) and float and set off die bomb.

 A spring loaded fist that punches you in face as soon as you grab the float.

I would think a big concern is the serial pot puller who thinks they can, more than once, raid pots before the true owners check them.

If data can be obtained informing you when your pot is raised by parties other than yourself, then I would think the Fisheries should be able to catch the perpetrator with a little further effort.

That is, if a cheap underwater data logger was hidden on the craypot and the data downloaded each day, you could easily identify when and how often your pot is being illegally checked. If a pattern is established, then the Fisheries should be able to easily catch the buggers.
Cheap underwater data loggers are less than $100 each and a reader is a few hundred or so.

Personally, if I thought my pot was being raided, I would leave a sized cray in the pot every now and then and tag it. If it was missing the next day, then you can be pretty sure your pot is being raided. Then tell the Fisheries how you are tagging your crays and they should be able to catch the perp at the boat ramp when he comes in with one of your tagged crays.

Zip Tie the door closed.
That way you will know they have been raided because the tie will be cut.
As for stopping thieves from pulling them, I don't think there is an easy fix except to catch them in the act & get it on video.
Mongrels should be dealt with like anyone else that steals things that belong to others.....

Put enough weight in pots and use the correct length rope and I'm sure most, but not all the pot pullers will miraculously disappear.

 Will have winches as well, some of them anyway, despicable pricks

This is my first season potting for crays and all the info I've gathered and people I have spoken to tends to lead to pot pulling being an issue more so early in the season when the crays are scarce. ATM not to many people I know are getting any decent numbers So people if they feel can get away with it pull pots in the vicinity to try and take at least a couple of crays home. When the whites begin to move there is normally plenty of crays in everyone's pots so less chance off it happening.  to me it's still a dog act but stealing people's pots is unforgivable . I've only got 1 cray from 3 pulls but my pots were exactly on the marks I dropped them . I very much doubt pot pullers are going to put them back exactly where they were. I'm sure it happens but as already said , plenty of weight to keep them in place. No excess rope to eliminate boat strikes and be patient. easy to get frustrated by not getting any crays and immediately jump to the conclusion someone is pulling them. Not long now and hopefully we will all have pots full of whites

 This will be forgotten . When everyone's pots full. I have pots out( doing crap) mid 30s norm great. Swam down( scuba). Ledges full my pots 2 feet away.( jumbos) everywhere . None in pot .Other divers will tell you the same. Pretty sure there saving themselves for chicky babes to run.:):):):)

Jobs rooted for a couple of weeks yet. Crays are busy rooting and/or changing their shells for this years fashion... Be cool, the crays will come. The science all suggests this will be a great year, have faith. But in the meantime, get the bugs out of your catching systems, explore a bit wider ground, look at how the weather affects your pot placement, try some different baits, etc.. Have some fun with it. Fair dinkum, from some of the threads going and facebook crap, you would think we are playing for sheep stations. For sure, stuffing around with another blokes pot is bloody low, and deserves retribution, but I'm pretty sure, because I'm guilty of it myself, that a lot of "pulled" and "stolen" pots are due to inexperienced rigging and placement. My mate and I ran an absolute root last year with our gear when we put it out end of November, but we researched, listened and learned, and by Christmas, we had happy and healthy freezers full of our limit of Crays ready for the carnage of Christmas day.