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[fishonsteelheader]

My son class got some chum eggs to rear and let go in Abby and don't get me wrong I think that is a good thing to teach are kids but chums are so thick in the rivers and unless you go to squamish there not worth keeping. I know that they are much cheaper to raise then coho and steelhead but are we one day going to have nothing but chum in are rivers  coho and steelhead are already so scarce I hope that there is some kind of way that we can save are coho and steelhead hatchery stocks.

[bbronswyk2000]

Chum seem to have the best survival rate. Yes Cammer that nutrient thing does play a part but I agree with the theory " enough is enough " places like the Alouette do not need anymore Chum fry released. Lets get more coho, and steelhead in our systems.

[younggun]

my school did it to, but they release only coho, they actually released coho this year into the seymour

[Schenley]

Oh come on now people-- its an EDUCATIONAL program......

http://www.salmonidsintheclassroom.ca/

This program was started in BC over 25 years ago. It has become a world recognized teaching aid. Similar programs are now in place in Alaska, Oregon, Washington for Pacific salmon. In central Canada and the US , Trout UnLimited helps teachers with trout classroom incubators. On the Atlantic seaboard, there are incubators that hatch Atlantic salmon. ITS NOT A PRODUCTION TOOL. Its all about getting the kids involved with salmon and trout.

What species of salmon a teacher receives for his/her class depends on many factors. Quite often is just what is available from a DFO or Community Hatchery.  There is NOTHING sinister about it. Some teachers annually switch from chums to coho. A few raise chinook...

Accept the program for what it is... a great way to get kids to start thinking about one part of the salmon life cycle

[Pat AV]

Salmon in the classroom in a grreat program.

I agree with some points from both sides. I think alot of rivers have plenty of dogs and some even have too many (the chehalis always pops into my head  ) DFO should definetly calm down on some systems as far as chum go.

The small streams that Salmon in the Classroom generally release into are happy to get ANY salmon back so starting with chum and the high nutrient bang for your buck is a good thing.

[Prettyfly]

i think its great too. The town schools in our area rear salmon - I think sockeye, but the reserve school rears kokanee - the school is within walking distance of the lake. The salmon enhancement program within the nation is quite successful and the kids get to be a part of it.

[Sterling C]

My son class got some chum eggs to rear and let go in Abby and don't get me wrong I think that is a good thing to teach are kids but chums are so thick in the rivers and unless you go to squamish there not worth keeping. I know that they are much cheaper to raise then coho and steelhead but are we one day going to have nothing but chum in are rivers  coho and steelhead are already so scarce I hope that there is some kind of way that we can save are coho and steelhead hatchery stocks.

If he's raising them in Abby chances are they won't be releasing them into anywhere fishable. They typically release the fish into stoney creek which is little more than a trickle for most of the year and offers nothing in the way of fishing opportunity so I fail to see why it matters which species is being released. If anything its better that they release chums as they will be off to the ocean right away and might actually survive in numbers great enough for your son to see returning in a few years. If they released coho fry they would have to spend much more time in fresh water and would likley die off in the summer when the water dries up.

[fishonsteelheader]

My son class got some chum eggs to rear and let go in Abby and don't get me wrong I think that is a good thing to teach are kids but chums are so thick in the rivers and unless you go to squamish there not worth keeping. I know that they are much cheaper to raise then coho and steelhead but are we one day going to have nothing but chum in are rivers  coho and steelhead are already so scarce I hope that there is some kind of way that we can save are coho and steelhead hatchery stocks.

If he's raising them in Abby chances are they won't be releasing them into anywhere fishable. They typically release the fish into stoney creek which is little more than a trickle for most of the year and offers nothing in the way of fishing opportunity so I fail to see why it matters which species is being released. If anything its better that they release chums as they will be off to the ocean right away and might actually survive in numbers great enough for your son to see returning in a few years. If they released coho fry they would have to spend much more time in fresh water and would likley die off in the summer when the water dries up.

yes I see your point I just think that coho are steelhead would be better and then take a feild trip to a river that could use the help

[Nicole]

Chum leave as fry the following march, and are only option other than chinook...

Coho and steelhead need to be fed for a year...

Summer holidays means no year long pet projects...

Cheers,
Nicole

[mastercaster]

I've been teaching the Salmonid in the Classroom program for 16 years now and like Schenley said it's an educational program to teach the kids about the importance of water quality, conservation, it being a renewable resource, and of course the life cycle of the salmon.  All the schools get their eggs from the closest hatchery because they need to be returned to that system.  You can't transplant them where you like.  Sometimes the returns of coho are so poor or they lose the eggs through disease that they can ill afford to give them to the schools and must take extra precaution to make sure as many survive as possible.  They never usually have a problem with chum numbers and like Biffchan said, their survival rate is much better because they swim directly to the ocean as fry. They never have to worry about low or warm water conditions.

Talk to any biologist in the field and they'll tell you that the number of eggs that all the schools are given in total  (approx. 50 to each school) is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to fish enhancement and not even noticeable.  Hatcheries that literally raise millions have difficulty improving overall river numbers alot of the time.  Just take a look at the number of rivers in the province that have some form of enhancement program but still don't allow sports fishing on their systems yet.

BTW, this is a fed. program so forget about EVER seeing steelhead in classroom situations because all enhancement of steelhead is still under provincial jurisdiction.  They still have heated debates about having steelhead enhancement in any river where wild ones still exist.  ie.  Thompson R.

[mastercaster]

I forgot to mention we raise coho every year and release them into the Little Campbell. It's my favourite field trip of the year.  Bob does a fantastic job taking the kids on tour of the hatchery and the river. 

BTW, the classroom fry are considered wild because they're released directly into river.  Their fin (usually a pevic or a pectoral) doesn't get clipped.

[Pat AV]

Stoney/Clayburn creeks in abby actually have decent runs of coho in them (for urban creeks their size that is).

The Abbotsford Ravine Park Salmonid Enhancement Society used to put their classroom coho into these systems for years. The last time I was involved with the society our community advisor suggested to us that we start stocking creeks like Wilband and Downs with our classroom fish since the coho returns in Stoney and clayburn were doing quite well on their own.

These creeks actually have great habitat, I have done many fish salvages on both of them and they re super fishy (even in the summertime lows of the in-stream work window) We would often remove thousands of juvenile coho from any given1-2 hundred meter stretch of either creek. That said both creeks are small enough that they will never provide any sport fishery, however having stocks in little urban creeks like these is valuable in many other ways.

These creeks are a great example of how the Salmon in the clasroom system can work wonders both as an educational and enhancement tool.

As far as the anti chum debate goes most classroom fish go into systems that are lucky to get any salmon back so I am happy to see any life in them doggy or otherwise.

[fishonsteelheader]

Stoney/Clayburn creeks in abby actually have decent runs of coho in them (for urban creeks their size that is).

The Abbotsford Ravine Park Salmonid Enhancement Society used to put their classroom coho into these systems for years. The last time I was involved with the society our community advisor suggested to us that we start stocking creeks like Wilband and Downs with our classroom fish since the coho returns in Stoney and clayburn were doing quite well on their own.

These creeks actually have great habitat, I have done many fish salvages on both of them and they re super fishy (even in the summertime lows of the in-stream work window) We would often remove thousands of juvenile coho from any given1-2 hundred meter stretch of either creek. That said both creeks are small enough that they will never provide any sport fishery, however having stocks in little urban creeks like these is valuable in many other ways.

These creeks are a great example of how the Salmon in the clasroom system can work wonders both as an educational and enhancement tool.

As far as the anti chum debate goes most classroom fish go into systems that are lucky to get any salmon back so I am happy to see any life in them doggy or otherwise.

Yes for those small river good but what about are big rivers less chum and more coho and steelhead

[fishonsteelheader]

Chum leave as fry the following march, and are only option other than chinook...

Coho and steelhead need to be fed for a year...

Summer holidays means no year long pet projects...

Cheers,
Nicole

Yes they need longer so dose that mean that there less impotent because of this

[Nicole]

Yes they need longer so dose that mean that there less impotent because of this

The fact is, the kids don't have attention spans long enough to handle waiting a year for the big release...

I think doing the chum in the classroom makes alot of sense, kids learn about salmon, and the project is lower maintenance for the teacher... This being said even though I personally am not a big fan of those pesky chum...

-Nicole