Yeah, Tom, it's a shame.  It was developed by a Paraguayan conservationist and fisherman named Jose Xifra.  Apparently there was some kind of financial conflict with the American distributor and production got shut down.  I bought one just before that and a friend(?) of mine dropped it into the lake.  When I went to replace it I found the company had gone out of business.  I finally tracked a pair of them down that some fishing store in Florida had squirrelled away in old stock and bought them both.  Realizing I can't afford to lose another one, I now have a bungee style lanyard, about 4 foot long, which I secure to a thwart.  If I lose my grip or a fish thrashes too much I don't have to worry about losing it to Davy Jones again.