The school is hosting an aquarium, which the Grade 2 class will use as part of their science curriculum. In the aquarium are around 300 Brook Trout eggs, which will hatch in the next few weeks, and the students will get to observe them grow and learn how to take care of them. In late May or early June, the school will go down to the Medway River and release the fish into the wild.
The school’s fish eggs come as part of a larger repopulation effort going on in the Medway River. The eggs come from the McGowan Lake Fish Hatchery, and about 20,000 in all are being raised for release around the summer months.
The project comes as part of the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s education program, which teaches students about the importance of conservation.
“We want to teach the kids how important the fish are, not only as an important species in Nova Scotia, but also the importance of why we need to clean our environment,” says Lewis Hinks, director of programs for Nova Scotia. “Fish, especially brook trout and salmon, are an indicator of the health of the environment around them.”
The program has been going on for 19 years. Although the Atlantic Salmon Federation is ending it after this year, the Medway River Salmon Association is planning on keeping it going for the future.
Members of the Medway group have been trained on how to care for the eggs in the aquariums, and over the coming months a member of the group will come help take care of the fish as they mature.
Funding for the aquarium came from the community, with $1,000 from Harold Dobson, $200 from Richard Anthony and six jugs of distilled water from Charmaine Stevens.
