Troot in the Shed 2022 was a bit of an experiment… We moved away from the old-fashioned tank with water and air pump kept in the dark dusty shed for a more civilised environment! We hatched our trout ova in a small tank placed this time in a mini-fridge in the support for learning room. Access was much easier for anyone wanting to have a peep at the “peedie troot” and for the Upper Primary pupils who monitored the mini-hatchery for the last couple of months! The very small size of the tank and the lack of water pump meant that the ova and alevin losses were very significant: we lost 39% of our stock as opposed to 5% with the old method. There were still plenty fish to release and with the stocking consent from Marine Scotland we were allowed to go ahead.
After a brisk walk from the school to the Mill Burn, the children helped finding a suitable section of water for the fish and we were able to let our fry swim freely and seek for shelter under the bank.
We then moved back downstream and collected some samples from the burn bed to try and build a picture of what our trout would be feeding on or what would feed on our trout! The equipment provided by Mrs Rose, our science teacher, was extremely handy and we were able to collect caddis larvae, fresh water shrimps (Gammarus), water boatmen (Corixa), worms, stickleback fry and for the first time, we netted 3 elvers which must have been migrating at the time! We were at the right place at the right time! It is very difficult to imagine that those see-through delicate tiny eels have come all the way from silver eel eggs released in the Sargasso Sea 4,000 miles away from Stronsay!
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