How Bizarre: No trout in Denver?

A friend writes from Denver that he's astounded to find no Colorado trout on restaurant menus there. Some smoked trout (from Idaho) is as close as he's found. Otherwise, it's all about ocean fish only: salmon, halibut, flounder, etc. and the usual shellfish suspects.

What's THAT about?? Don't Denverites eat local trout?

Good grief, what is this world coming to??

Geo

HI,

Is it possible there is no commercial fishing? Can you get this trout elsewhere?

Regards,
Cathy2

Hi C2, Happy June to you (although it's been cold and gloomy, like March, since March here on Lake Champlain... : ( )

In Missouri, there's always fresh trout available because there's a huge hatchery down near Springfield, where you can pay-to-catch, or buy retail. I'd just assume that a similar case would be there in Colorado. But maybe not--assumptions are always dangerous!

Maybe Denver restaurant-goers just don't do trout!

Geo

You made me curious. I found this 1992 report online that suggests that farmed trout production in Colorado is pretty small--less than 1 percent of that of Idaho (see Table 1). The same table shows that Idaho produces more than 10 times more farmed trout than the second-place state (North Carolina) and more than 70 percent of the US total.
I also found this 2014 report that suggests that Federal budget cuts were anticipated to drastically reduce restocking of trout in Colorado waters for sport fishing.

Katie--

That is absolutely fascinating stuff, thank you so much for finding it! I'll pass it on to my friend, who is an economist and will really dig into the data.

Fascinating that my experience with trout in MO, squares with the data on that state's trout production that you found.

I'm just slack-jawed amazed that a state as famous for its trout fishing as Colorado (I remember as a young kid seeing the endless series of pix of Ike fly-fishing at the Colorado Summer White House), is in such dire straits re: stocking production.

Tnx again, Katie!

Geo

I had a similar situation when I was in the Finger Lakes region -- lake trout capital of the country? world? universe?

Anyway, no trout on the menu anywhere. I was told that there were no processing facilities -- mostly just sport fishing, and so for quality considerations, the restaurants just didn't offer it.

Super disappointing, though.

It is generally illegal to sell wild game or fish in the US, so almost certainly if you are in the Lake Trout Capital of the World or the Ruffed Grouse Capital of the World (Park Falls, WI) you will not find any wild examples of those species for sale either in the markets or the restaurants.

Wild game found for sale is "wild" in name only; that elk loin or bobwhite quail breasts you've eaten were from animals raised on game farms and never lived a "wild" day in their life.

There are some exceptions with fish; some of the Indian tribes can commercially fish species like walleye in Minnesota, there is commercial fishing on Lake Michigan for whitefish plus commercial fishing on the ocean.

Animals determined to be "non-native" or "invasives" like wild pigs can be sold commercially but must be live trapped then butchered in an FDA-approved facility.

The general ban on the commercial sale of wild fish and game is one of the key tenets of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation

FWIW,
Dave