Salmon go to school!

Shanine Urquhart and Beth Gray demonstrate the hatchery equipment used to rear the salmon

Primary school classes in Wester Ross and Lochalsh have been getting to grips with the local environment in a very hands on way thanks to a project by the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust. “Salmon and Trout in the Classroom” has been running in several Wester Ross schools this Spring thanks to the support of SNH, The Highland Council 'Determined to Succeed' initiative, local estates and Bob Kindness.

Schools are supplied with small aquariums containing salmon eggs which they can watch developing and eventually hatch out into baby fish. The young salmon are released by the children back into local rivers, where they will hopefully grow until they migrate to the sea and return as adult salmon. The eggs are all from wild salmon caught in the local rivers, so by re-stocking these native fish the project helps to restore the fish stocks.

The project has been very popular with the children as headteacher of Plockton Primary School, Niall MacKinnon pointed out: “This was a very hands on project. Pupils enjoyed seeing the eggs at first hand and took their responsibilities to look after them very seriously. Everyone, teachers included, found it very exciting to watch the eggs hatch into young salmon alevin. Releasing these into the local burn has given the pupils a very direct connection with wild salmon in Scottish rivers in a way which no amount of book work could ever match.”

Plockton Primary pupils prepare to release the salmon fry into the Duirinish Burn

For more information on “Salmon and Trout in the Classroom” contact the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust on 01445 712899. Also see plockton.com/primary

Poetry inspired by the project…

Blob
The alevin’s dead haunting eye glares at me.
Its slimy body shimmers in the microscope’s light.
Bright orange blobs float around its sac.
Black spots are dotted, surrounding the eye.
It lies there as still as stone, ………… waiting.

Iona P7

Epitaph to a Salmon Alevin

Sùil bhradain
Sleamhainn, litheach, caoin.
Sùil bhradain a’coimhead dhan iarmailt,
dealrach, iomhair, spangach.
Sùil bhradain a’lorg biadh,
gorm, balgach, glan.
Sùil bhradan, a’snàmh ann an abhainn,
sleamhainn, litheach, caoin.
Sùil bhradain a’dol gu cadal.

Catriona GM P5