The Preeceville School has created a lot of excitement within the school and community with the hatching聽 perch eggs and hand raising perch.
"The Fish in Schools program has allowed staff, students and interested community members to have a hands-on experience while they learn about the 100 perch fish eggs," said Heather Gawrelitza, the Preeceville branch representative of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation.
"The students will have the opportunity to learn about and understand the different cycles a fish goes through," said Bill Dodge, teacher. The valuable resources that the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation will supply the students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 with the program is huge.
鈥淪tudents will have a real hands-on experience in learning about fish and will have the satisfaction of seeing the fish released into Lady Lake after they have reached the five-centimetre stage," he said.
鈥淭he school has already received the 20-gallon tank and all the supplies required, including the filter and food. The perch eggs were received on January 24 and we have monitored the development of the perch from the hatching process to feeding to fingerling stage.
"The real challenge has been raising them with the goal of a high survival rate before their release,鈥� Dodge said. 鈥淲e have approximately 60 perch remaining.鈥�
While leading a tour of members of the Preeceville branch of the SWF, Dodge discussed the stages and progress of the fish to date.
"When we first received the eggs they came in a bottle shipped in a Styrofoam cooler," he said. 鈥淲hen they hatched, we kept them in a small enclosed nursery prior to releasing them into the aquarium. Upon the release the little perch dived into the rocks. They will remain hidden in the rocks until approximately February 20, when they will be starting to come to the top for feeding.鈥�
The fish will be released into Lady Lake when they reach the two to two-and-a-half-inch fingerling stage.
The program was offered by the Preeceville branch of the SWF after Gawrelitza, its secretary, had approached the school to do so after having done research on the program at other schools.
"I thought it would be great if we could get this going in our school so I contacted Doug King, principal, to see if this is something our school could do,鈥� she said.
The branch members act as liaisons between the school and the provincial Fish in Schools program co-ordinator in the SWF central office, she said. The local branch sponsors the program and is responsible for getting the equipment set up in the school, assists with maintenance of the equipment, delivers the eggs to the school and assists with the releasing of the fish.聽
"The Preeceville wildlife club is very happy to offer this program and members look forward to a release party at Lady Lake in June that everyone can attend and support," Gawrelitza said.
