A Statistical Approach to Estimating Costs of Propagating Hatchery Rainbow Trout

A statistical cost function is estimated and used to calculate the marginal cost and average total cost of production of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in Colorado. The marginal cash costs in the short run to produce another rainbow trout caught by anglers from the existing hatchery system is US$0.61, which is less than three different estimates of the marginal recreational benefit of harvesting another rainbow trout. However, the average total cash costs and long-run economic cost per catchable-size rainbow trout harvested by a recreational angler are estimated as $1.85 and $2.69, respectively. These costs are considerably higher than the $1.10 average benefit of a rainbow trout caught.