Stocking: The fish are ready for stocking by late April or early May. The site will be a tributary of the Connecticut river selected by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and CRSA. In fact, these fish must be stocked then, because they are about to exhaust the food supply of the yolk sac and they must have access to natural food. They cannot be sustained further in the classroom tank. The stocking will in all likelihood be conducted with another school(s). The transport of these small fish for stocking purposes must be done carefully because it involves temperature and oxygen risks, which are direct functions of time and distance. This is the schools' responsibility. Many make a full class field trip out of it.

Equipment Costs: The total investment required is approximately $600-$650. The largest cost is the refrigeration chiller. CRSA does not make these, nor does it have any financial interest in them. The one we have found to be reliable is manufactured by a California company and sold to educational institutions in 1999 for $550. This is a critical piece of equipment, as temperatures in the 2-4 centigrade range are required. Tanks will be served by a reliable filter, and must be thoroughly insulated.

[Note: The Center for Environmental Education at Antioch New England Graduate School has funding available for school environmental programs; application can be made directly on their web site.]

CRSA Support: CRSA will provide all new teachers with classroom posters, an equipment list and a notebook of materials for background purposes. It will introduce them to sources of educational materials. It will conduct a half-day seminar on a Saturday morning during the first week of December for all new teachers. It will deliver the eggs and help collect the young fish for stocking, and with new schools, will supervise the stocking. In addition, CRSA will have a specific liaison person assigned to each school; that person is available for consultation, advice, troubleshooting and for arranging classroom appearances of Department of Environmental Protection or CRSA personnel for educational purposes. In addition, we have access to a substantial video library and are familiar with potential field trips for interested teachers.

Educational Attributes: The program has been conducted in classes ranging from grades 1 and 2 to high school seniors, all with success. It provides a unique window into an effort to restore a spectacular species extirpated from its environment almost 200 years ago. It also provides an excellent aquaculture, marine ecology, conservation and environmental tool. The Atlantic Salmon Federation provides excellent educational materials which are available through CRSA. These are designed to make this program a part of a regular school science program. In addition, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service also provides educational materials and conducts seminars, all adapted to incorporating this program as a part of an overall watershed improvement or aquaculture-based program. Several of the teachers in our CRSA program currently use materials from U.S. Fish & Wildlife; some use materials from the Atlantic Salmon Federation; some use a mixture, or have developed their own materials. We really don't care, and we will make available to teachers for their inspection as many sources of materials as we can find. Restoration program salmon eggs can only be procured through CRSA. We seek to engage responsible and committed teachers, and we leave the teaching to them.

Risks: Some incidental mortality among eggs and alevin can be expected in virtually all tanks. In addition, it should be noted that we have had substantial losses in two out of sixteen tanks in 1998 and four out of forty-four in 1999. These major casualties, coming at the egg stage, could have been caused by a variety of factors: incipient disease, chlorine or other foreign substance introduction, damage in transit, etc. We simply don't know. We cannot replace eggs once this program gets started. Introduction of a foreign substance is the most likely cause; virtually all of our eggs come from a single female and the separated incidents of casualty point to a local origin. Chlorine is the major suspect; schools using chlorinated water have to take extra precautions to ensure none is directly or indirectly introduced. It can be safely managed: operating the tank for a few days before the December break, even if chlorinated water is involved, will eliminate all of the chemical in about thirty-six hours. Spare amounts of "clean" water need to be maintained to restore levels subsequently.

In addition, there is a risk of chiller failure. We have had one chiller fail at the outset, upon delivery, and it was promptly replaced. This year, we had one fail during operations but it came at a school which had other tanks in use and we were able to move the eggs to these other tanks without apparent causality. This chiller was also replaced by the supplier at no cost. We maintain one spare chiller in Hartford and one spare chiller in New Haven for emergency purposes.

Field Trips: As noted above, many schools have made a full or partial field trip out of the stocking exercise. In addition, there are public viewing opportunities at several of the Connecticut and Farmington River dam fishways, and CRSA can provide information.

Schedule:

• Late summer: CRSA to confirm participating schools
• Late summer/early fall: equipment ordered / purchased.
• September: notebooks to new teachers containing instructional and background materials.
• Early December: half-day seminar for new teachers.
• Before Christmas vacation: tank up and running.
• Early January: egg delivery.
• Mid-February: hatching.
• Late April / Early May: collection for stocking.

For further information, contact the CRSA School Program.