Ben Kunzler a teacher at Box Elder Middle School pours trout eggs into the egg basket in the Trout in the Classroom aquarium.
WELLSVILLE – On Thursday, Jan. 13, seven Cache Valley classrooms got their annual dose of trout eggs, and the eggs are already hatching sending sac fry into the isolated compartment of the aquarium waiting them to grow into fingerlings.
The trout eggs were brought to Wellsville then other volunteers took them to different schools in the valley where students can observed the process of the trout from eggs to fishes.
Paul Holden of Cache Valley Anglers, a chapter of Trout Unlimited, said that each school received from 200 to 300 eggs this year.
“The hatchery was a little worried the eggs we picked up this year may not have been fertilized so they gave us more than we usually get,” Holden said. “They seem to be hatching just fine.”
Besides the seven in Cache Valley, they sent three over to Box Elder schools.
A cup with trout eggs was put into a 55-gallon aquarium so students can watch them grow.
The tanks were set up about a month ago with a special blend of bacteria and minerals added for the fish to survive. The water was set at 55 degrees and the tank is covered with insulation for a time while the fish get big enough the light won’t harm them.
The Trout in the Classroom is a joint effort by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Trout Unlimited. The fish eggs were placed in several elementary schools in Cache Valley.
“We will work together to deliver rainbow trout eggs to more than 50 Utah schools participating in Trout Unlimited’s popular Trout in the Classroom program,” said Faith Jolley, public relations officer for the Department of Wildlife Resources. “Each school will generally receives approximately 150 rainbow trout eggs, provided by the DWR.”
The eggs were placed in tanks so students can observe changes as the eggs develop into young fish. The students will raise the fish and release the trout in Utah waterbodies during field trips in the spring.
Cache Valley students released their trout into the Wellsville Pond, then spent the rest of the morning fishing for trout in the community pond. Wellsville Pond is one of Utah’s community urban fisheries.
Trout Unlimited is active in Northern Utah as an American non-profit organization dedicated to the conserving of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, and other aquatic species. In the process, they have a great impact on people who use the outdoors and the water bodies.