Economic Benefits and Costs of Stocking Catchable Rainbow Trout: A Synthesis of Economic Analysis in Colorado

Many fish and wildlife management agencies expend a large proportion of their fishery management budgets to provide catchable-size trout for the creation and maintenance of put-and-take fisheries. Increasingly, this practice has been called into question. This study examines the economic issues involved and compares the economic costs of providing catchable rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in two Colorado streams with anglers' willingness to pay for them. The apparent discrepancy between the economic costs of providing catchable trout and their economic benefits suggests that the Colorado catchable trout program and those in other states should be reviewed on efficiency grounds.