MARQUETTE - Area students have been releasing hundreds of salmon into local rivers recently, thanks to a Michigan Department of Natural Resources program sponsored locally by Trout Unlimited.
Fifth- and sixth-grade students from Negaunee, Marquette, Gwinn, Eben and Gladstone have released the young fish in recent days.
"It's a terrific way for the schools to get involved in conservation," said Bob Jensen, the Trout Unlimited Salmon in the Classroom coordinator for the local Fred Waara Chapter of TU. "It can fit into any kind of science curriculum."
Statewide, Trout Unlimited chapters sponsor a number of programs like the one in Marquette County, in which Trout Unlimited purchases equipment for each classroom and the DNR donates about 200 salmon eggs.
The students care for the tiny fish for months.
"The kids raise them to about 3 or 4 inches, then we come out here and release them," Jensen said.
Gwinn sixth-grader Alec Mayo said his class put a lot of work in to caring for the fish since they received the eggs in November, but he enjoyed it.
"It takes some hard work to raise fish," he said. "But it's pretty fun work."
Gwinn sixth-grade teacher Magan Lantagne said she was glad the kids enjoyed working with the fish, but highlighted the learning opportunities associated with it.
"The hands-on learning is just phenomenal," she said as she walked toward the Dead River, where her students released their fish. "It's not just something they read in a book."
In previous weeks, the students in Gwinn gave presentations on topics ranging from the life cycle of salmon to the ecology of local rivers. Along the way, the kids even became a bit attached.
"I'm sad to let them go," Gwinn sixth-grader Mikayla Hollands said.
They're like our little family."
Kyle Whitney can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250.
