Southeastern aquaculture gets a boost with catfish

Southeastern students in the Environmental/Biotechnology program are learning to raise and harvest catfish, after getting a generous donation from Alden Research Laboratories, a 32-acre facility that specializes in fluid dynamic consulting. The laboratory donated hundreds of Channel Catfish to the school last week, which the students brought back after getting an educational tour of the facility, located in Holden.

Environmental teacher Greg Gaudreau, who is an environmental biologist, said the freshwater catfish are ideal for the students to work with because they are hardy and grow very quickly. The students are already working with tilapia fish, and the catfish will expand the department’s aquaculture program.

Mr. Gaudreau said they plan to grow the catfish until they are ready to be eaten, which should be early next year. At that point, the fish will be turned over to the school’s culinary department, where students will be learning to prepare and cook them.

“They are very healthy to eat, and easy to raise. The students will be learning how to feed them so they grow as quickly as possible, and will be required to pay close attention to the weight of the fish and the water quality of their tanks,” Mr. Gaudreau said.

During the field trip, the students were exposed to many different aspects of environmental engineering, and learned how specialized turbines in power plants can reduce the injury and mortality rate of fish and other marine life. Dan Giza, a fisheries biologist, gave them a tour of the facility, which houses 30 different species of fishes, and the students viewed a scaled version of a river. They also learned about sediment flow, and how it is affected by power plants.

“It was a perfect field trip,” said Biotechnology Instructor Heather Stoddard, who has worked as a biopharmaceutical quality control chemist. “It taught the students a lot about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and it provided them great exposure to a variety of career paths,” she said.

Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School, www.sersd.org, is a public 9-12 vocational high school located at 250 Foundry Street, in South Easton, Massachusetts. The school services approximately 1,375 students from the city of Brockton and the towns of East Bridgewater, Easton, Foxboro, Mansfield, Norton, Sharon, Stoughton, and West Bridgewater.

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