Woodstock students hatch, release Atlantic salmon

Philip Catanese, left, University of Maine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Bryant Pond, helps a Woodstock Elementary School student test the water temperature, pH level and dissolved oxygen in the Androscoggin River. The student and her classmates released Atlantic salmon into the Androscoggin River on May 17. In February the school received around 200 Atlantic salmon eggs from the Atlantic Salmon Federation. Fifth-graders raised the endangered fish in tanks as part of a science unit in Mrs. Prentice’s class. With help from Bryant Pond 4-H Camp staff, the students released the salmon into a local river. The students learned that for two to three years, the salmon “fry” will remain in fresh water, eventually migrating to Greenland and Iceland. With luck, the salmon that survive will return to spawn here in their “home river.” The class also learned about the fish’s life cycle, habitat and human impact.