Pupils at a Barrhead school released two healthy tanks full of brown trout into the Levern Water this month as part of a flagship education project.
The trip down to the river was the final step in a project Carlibar Primary have been undertaking with the Clyde River Foundation (CRF), a charity which delivers environmental education and engagement alongside scientific monitoring throughout the River Clyde catchment and its tributaries.
Clyde in the Classroom is CRF's flagship education project and has been putting trout in schools across the eight areas of the Clyde for 24 years now.
On Wednesday, February 28, the two classes involved, primary 6a and primary 6b, headed down to the waterway with their teachers and CRF biologist Toby Miller to release the creatures they have been taking care of in hatcheries.
Toby Miller, who has been working with the children during the project, told the Barrhead News: “Both classes have thrown themselves into the project with infectious enthusiasm.
“It was a great celebration of their success that we were able to release two healthy tanks full of fish into the River Levern in Carlibar Park just a stone's throw away from the school.
“Most importantly it was a privilege to see a new group of future stewards ready to aid in keeping the Clyde catchment 'cold and clean'."
For the first part of the project, the pupils headed to the Glasgow Science Centre for a launch day earlier this year.
During this visit they learned about the ecology of the Clyde and the task ahead of them.
The class then received fish hatcheries which they practiced keeping 'cold and clean' for a week before receiving a batch of brown trout eggs.
The eggs then hatched into alevins and the pupils used ice bottles and performed water changes to simulate a trout nest (redd) in their local waterway.
After around 5 weeks the fish were ready to be released into the Levern Water, which was recently restored to feature a wider, more natural river channel with the ability to better absorb flooding and encourage more fish and wildlife.
The Barrhead News headed along to the release day and spoke with some of the 10-year-olds from P6a.
Agnes said: “ We learned how to take care of the fish and about the temperature they need.
“We had to keep the water cold because if it’s too hot they could die. I enjoyed taking care of them.”
Classmate Daniella, meanwhile, explained that they have not only been working on looking after the tank, but have been doing lots of other fish-related work as well including art, while another classmate Jacob said it was an ideal project for him as he has “always wanted to look after fish.”
Kodie added: “At first it was quite hard to take care of them but as more days went by it got easier.”
The two classes at Carlibar are among 113 taking part this year from no less than 93 schools.
Over the 24 year span of the project, CRF have delivered the educational initiative to 40,000 pupils and counting.
“The span of this is so wide that we regularly meet teachers and members of the public that remember the fish tank in their class," added Toby.
“None of this would be possible without the help of our project sponsors and we're especially thankful to Mark Brand at East Renfrewshire Council for providing the opportunity to work with two classes at Carlibar Primary School.
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