Connecticut Friends stock a river

WILTON — On a cold day last January, Dick Bell, president of the Connecticut River Salmon Association, arrived at Connecticut Friends School in Wilton with 200 Atlantic Salmon eggs. Part of the CRSA Salmon in Schools Program, it was the start of a four-month science-based service project in which the 2nd-4th grade students and teachers built a special tank to hold the salmon, raised and hatched the eggs, took daily temperature readings, and recorded daily observations and changes.The Connecticut River Salmon Association (CRSA) is a nonstock, nonprofit Connecticut corporation. Their mission is to support the effort to restore Atlantic salmon in the Connecticut River basin, a joint undertaking by the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the National Marine Fisheries Service (www.ctriversalmon.org). The CRSA has partnered with schools across the state of Connecticut to help return the Atlantic Salmon population to the Connecticut River.

During the last four months the students have become experts on the lifecycle of the Atlantic Salmon and have educated the entire school community The young biologists have researched the long journey that the fish take from their local tributaries to the waters off of West Greenland and then home again using their senses of taste and smell.

“We are honored to be a part of the Salmon in Schools project,” said Connecticut Friends School teacher Suellan Birchard. “It allows us to explore marine biology both in the classroom and outside the classroom. As a Friends school, we strive to provide service learning and teach stewardship to our students.”

On April 21 the class traveled to the Salmon River Recreation Area in East Haddam, Connecticut to release their Atlantic Salmon Fry into the wild. While this is the end of the schools’ time with the salmon, it is only the beginning of a long journey for the 200 fry.
By: The Wilton Villager