CASPER, Wyo. — Fish stocked in Wyoming from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatcheries contributed to $24 million worth of economic activity in 2010, according to an agency report.

More than 2 million agency fish were stocked in Wyoming waters, resulting in an estimated 361,738 angling days and over $15 million in retail sales.

The report takes into account economic activity related to Fish and Wildlife Service hatcheries only.

Jim Caudill, economics chief for the agency, noted that an earlier study pegged 2006 total retail expenditures associated with freshwater fishing in Wyoming at $500 million.

Fish and Wildlife Service stocking and related fishing in Wyoming resulted in 227 jobs and job income of more than $7 million, he said.

“It’s not the economic driver obviously, but it’s not insignificant,” Caudill said.

Caudill said the $24 million industrial output figure takes into account the multiplier impacts of initial expenditures that arise from angling for fish stocked by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Larry Gamble, geographic supervisor for the fisheries program, said fish from Fish and Wildlife Service facilities in Wyoming are not stocked exclusively in local waters.

A Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery in one state often benefits many states, Gamble said. For example, rainbow trout eggs produced at a facility in Ennis, Mont., are shipped to three dozen states.

He said stocking decisions are made in close cooperation with state game and fish officials.

Two Fish and Wildlife Service hatcheries are located in Wyoming. The Saratoga National Fish Hatchery produces trout and trout eggs to fill needs across the U.S. Its broodstock trout species are lake, brown and rainbow trout.

The Saratoga hatchery includes 37 raceways and 16 tanks fed by springs and wells, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service website.

The Jackson National Fish Hatchery produces Snake River cutthroat trout for federal, state and tribal waters in Wyoming and Idaho. It produces more than 1 million eggs and 400,000 trout annually.

The Fish and Wildlife Service fisheries program, in association with state agencies and other conservation groups, contributes $3.6 billion to the U.S. economy and supports 68,000 jobs, according to the agency.

The National Fish Hatchery System generates $900 million in industrial output annually and $550 million in retail sales.