The Trust Expands its Education Programme into Gwynedd
Following that, pupils at the school played an active part in the project, checking and controlling water flow and temperature three or four times a day and keeping records under the watchful eye of staff at the school while watching the transformation from egg to alevin and eventually into salmon fry ready for release into the wild.
That big event came at the beginning of July when Richard, Walter, Hefin Hughes from the Seiont, Gwyrfai & Llyfni Anglers’ Society and three teachers took the 46 pupils in years 5 and 6 at the school to the Afon Gwyrfai which flows nearby to release the young salmon. Each child had a fish to release, many naming them before excitedly watching the fish swimming away and from where they will eventually make their way to the sea, hopefully returning to the river as adult fish in a few years time, this time to breed in the wild.
All the parties involved in the project agreed that it had been a tremendous success and nobody more so than the children who asked all sorts of questions during the project and were sad to see the fish go. Although the project’s primary purpose was to teach the children about the lifecycle of a salmon it also helped raise their awareness of their local and wider environment.
The Trust is now eager to hear from other Gwynedd schools which would like to take part in the programme next year.
Reporting an environmental incident
To report an environmental incident such as suspected poaching, pollution or wildlife crime, the dumping of hazardous or industrial waste and illegal abstraction from watercourses etc, call Natural Resources Wales’ incident hotline on 0300 065 3000 (24 hour service).