Economic Impact of McNenny State Fish Hatchery, Spearfish, South Dakota, USA

McNenny State Fish Hatchery, rural Spearfish, South Dakota, USA produces trout and salmon for stocking into public recreational fishing waters in South Dakota. Hatchery operations at McNenny are funded solely by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and an excise tax on fishing equipment. This study evaluated the monetary contribution of hatchery expenditures and fish production to the local economy of South Dakota for calendar year 2017. The economic value of the fish raised at McNenny State Fish Hatchery in 2017 was calculated to be $6,609,576.03 USD. When added to the estimated McNenny share of angler expenditures in the Black Hills National Forest, the total local monetary impact of McNenny State Fish Hatchery operations and fish stocking was slightly more than $22 million. Based on annual hatchery expenditures, McNenny operations generated $51.68 of local economic output for every budgetary dollar spent in 2017.


Introduction
Recreational angling is a very important component of the gross domestic product of the United States [1]. After jogging, it is the second most popular outdoor activity in the country [2]. In 2017, over 49 million Americans representing 17% of the entire population of the United States took approximately 885 million fishing outings [2]. These anglers generated nearly $50 billion (USD) in retail sales, impacting the livelihoods of more than 800,000 people [3].
Fish produced in publicly-owned hatcheries are critical to the creation, maintenance, and improvement of recreational fishing opportunities in the United DOI: 10 were responsible for producing nearly 47 million trout and salmon weighing 1,800 t [6]. In total, government hatcheries produced nearly 29,000 t of fish for recreational purposes in 2013, over half of which was rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) [7]. Rainbow trout are one of the most widely stocked fish in North America [8], and are typically produced at a size suitable for immediate harvest [9]. The economic benefits and impacts of hatchery-reared fish, particularly rainbow trout and other salmonid species, stocked into public fishing wa-

Methods
A combination of hatchery expenditure data and stocking data was used to evaluate the local (within South Dakota) economic impact of fish production at   fish. Because anglers are willing to pay more for larger fish [19], which Whitehead and Aiken [20] estimated at 3.5% more per cm increase in trout length greater than 23 cm, the inflated-adjusted base value was increased accordingly for fish at each stocking size.
Unlike the rainbow and brown trout which are stocked into public fishing waters to provide immediate recreation under the assumption that they will be caught relatively quickly [21] [22], Chinook salmon are stocked at a much smaller size and expected to grow for at least two years prior to being caught.
For these stockings, the total economic value of the salmon fishery was determined by multiplying the number of angler trips [23] by the average spending per trip [24]. This value was adjusted to current CPI standards and multiplied by

Results
The economic value of the fish raised at McNenny State Fish Hatchery was calculated to be $6,609,576.03 (Table 2) [27]. The local total economic impact of slightly more than $22 million by McNenny Hatchery occurred without the expenditure of any South Dakota government general tax revenue [17]. This indicates that the current user-pay model, whereby anglers pay for hatchery operations by purchasing licenses and fishing equipment, is providing substantial benefits to the non-angling public. Direct spending on outdoor recreation and the associated indirect benefits are a substantial component of the economy of South Dakota [28].
The economic impact from McNenny Hatchery operations is likely much greater than that reported in this study. Several large regular expenditures, such as fish food purchases, were excluded from the analysis because the manufacturer was located outside of South Dakota. The impact of one-time, monetarily-large, irregularly-occurring, construction expenditures was also excluded. Lastly, this study did not include the long-term economic impacts of hatchery research and innovation. Although somewhat difficult to quantify [29] [30] [31], the considerable and consistent year-to-year research output at McNenny likely produces substantial long-term economic benefits both within the local economy and well-beyond the borders of South Dakota [32] [33] [34].
This study is the first to determine the economic impact of any publicly-owned fish hatchery in South Dakota, and any state-owed fish hatchery in the United States. This information can be used by administrators while making decisions on future budgeting and expenditures. As an initial effort, the results from this study should be verified by additional information on hatchery economics as well as a large survey of anglers to determine more accurate values for willingness-to-pay per fish caught or for increases in fish size.