Fish in Schools!

contributed by Whitecourt Central School Assistant Principal, Tim Bowman

Whitecourt Central School library has become a home to more than just books recently. Alberta Environment delivered a vial of rainbow trout eggs to the school's new library aquarium mid-January. After a week of nurturing the eggs, the students of Central are proud to announce the birth of 63 Rainbow Trout!

The Rainbow Trout are part of the Fish in Schools (FinS) program from Alberta Environment. There are just 41 schools in Alberta currently approved for the program.

Raising the fish from egg to fry is no easy task. They require careful monitoring of water, lighting, and food conditions to grow. To emulate the depths of a real river, we have enclosed our aquarium to limit the light entering. We have also cooled our aquarium to just 10C. In the wild, we would expect less than 10% to survive the first year of life. We expect to have a much higher survival rate in our controlled environment thanks to the extra special care from Mrs. Marin and Mrs. Sebo.

As the fish approach fingerling size in June, students will release them to a local pond under the supervision of Alberta Environment!

WCS welcomes 63 Rainbow Trout to their aquarium!