introducing children to river life
kick sampling for invertebrates
At the Trust we see education as one of our most important roles. This includes specific education projects with school children, raising awareness of fisheries issues generally within the community and running practical events to involve fisheries managers and the public in freshwater environments.
Salmon in the Classroom
Each year the Trust works with ten Lochaber primary schools on our Salmon in the Classroom project. Each school gets a mini-hatchery and 100 salmon eggs to look after, as well as a presentation on freshwater life and games to play about the salmon lifecycle. When the eggs have hatched and become fry the children get to release them back into the river they came from. We then take the pupils back to the release sites later in the year to electrofish the area, hopefully re-catching some of the released salmon as well as other species for the pupils to see. The project is very popular with pupils, who take great care and pride in raising their eggs. Lochaber Schools last year had an average survival rate of c95%! We present a trophy to the school which keeps most eggs alive.
We are very grateful to Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Government and Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland for part funding Salmon in the Classroom.
Artwork and Poetry Competitions
To see a sample of artwork from the Salmon in the Classroom project go to the Gallery. To read poems from the project click here and to read the winning poem click here.
Other educational work
The Lochaber Fisheries Trust run practical event days on local rivers to help raise awareness of riparian life. Recent events have included:
- Redd count training days, where the public and river managers could come and receive expert advice on how to identify redds (salmon spawning grounds)
- Electrofishing sessions, looking at the variety of fish life in our rivers and how to identify different species.
- Invertebrate sampling, where the public can actively involved in collecting the bugs and beasts that live in the river; bring wellies!
The Trust also gives talks at local interest groups such as Angling Club AGMS, and occasionally run workshops on fishery issues.
For details of upcoming events see our news section (homepage).
