Hey X,
The next time I see you up on the river I'll have one for you. Don't think it will be your brand, however. It'll be a left over of the type I bought for my Gr. 5 students.... the black licorice ones. Remember those? I feel it my civic duty to get the kids to cut down to one or two per week of the real stogies.
As to the other questions....each class in the district gets 50 eggs. All my eggs hatched but two of the alevin died shortly after the hatching process which is considered a a very good hatching rate.
As far as clipping a fin goes my class does get to partake in the activity but not with our own fry. It would be too traumatic on them what with them being transported to the river, being anaestnetized (spelling??), getting clipped, and having to adapt to a new environment. They are also too small. The ones the students get to clip are larger because they're easier to hold and are stronger. The clipped fish also need to be monitored to see that everything went OK which we couldn't do with our classroom fish because the folks at the hatchery want the kids to see them swim away.
Of interest....every year a different fin is clipped at the Little Campbell hatchery. They alternate between the adipose, pevic, and pectoral fin which helps them determine in what year they were hatched if and when they return to spawn.
BTW, take your kids to that hatchery if you can. They do a great tour down there.