a. Suppose you want to remove ten fish of an exotic species that have illegally been introduced to a lake. You have three possible removal methods.

Assume that q₁, q₂, and q₃ are, respectively, the amount of fish removed by each method that you choose to use so that the goal will be accomplished by any combination of methods such that q₁ + q₂ + q₃ =10. If the marginal costs of each removal method are, respectively, $10q₁, $5q₂, and $2.5q₃, how much of each method should you use to achieve the removal cost effectively?

b. Why isn’t an exclusive use of method 3 cost-effective?

c. Suppose that the three marginal costs were constant (not increasing as in the previous case) such that MC₁=$10, MC₂=$5, and MC₃=$2.5. What is the cost-effective outcome in that case?