St. Gabriel Students Participate in ‘Salmon Release Project’!

On Friday, May 9th, the Salmon Release project for 2014 came to an end for the middle school students from St. Gabriel Middle School in Windsor.  These students completed their part in the Salmon-in-Schools Program when they released salmon fry into Salmon Brook, at Granby’s Salmon Brook Park.  These salmon fry will eventually get to the Farmington & Connecticut Rivers, before heading to Long Island Sound.

The Salmon these students released are from the ‘Salmon-in-School’s Program’ operated by the Connecticut River Salmon Association (CRSA).  This program has been a key part of a combined effort between Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts to restore Atlantic salmon to the Connecticut River watershed.    

When students participate in this project, they are getting not only an amazing Science lesson, but they also have the opportunity for a hands-on learning experience of environmental awareness & sustainability.  This year’s project began mid-December for St. Gabriel School when the CRSA delivered a few hundred Atlantic salmon eggs to students in grades 6-8.  These eggs were then housed in Science teacher Meg Rosa’s classroom, in an aquarium tank with a chiller to maintain a cold temperature.  This aquarium models the winter environment that the wild salmon would be in if the eggs were laid in a local stream.  From the time of delivery to the recent release, students track and document their growth from "eyed” egg stage to the “alevin” stage, to the fry, while also learning about the salmon’s environments and life cycle.

After being released, the Atlantic salmon will spend the next two years between Salmon Brook Park's stream and the Farmington and Connecticut Rivers growing until they reach their smolt stage — the point at which the fish change from freshwater fish to saltwater fish.  According to Ms. Rosa, the fish will then head out to the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, and eventually return to the stream to lay eggs.