The Arizona Game and Fish Department has concluded a four-year study on what happens to trout they stock in streams around the state. 

The department says one of the main reasons for trout stocking is to satisfy fishermen demands. Trout are released once a week, and many anglers claim trout die within a day or two. But Aquatic Research Program Manager Ryan Mann says the study showed that is not the case.

“It wasn’t necessarily because the fish weren’t in the streams, in a lot of cases the fish were, about 40 percent of the fish were still surviving for about a week since stocking.”

Mann said the department recommends fishermen pay attention to their stocking times but to not be afraid to branch out from known stocking areas.