Releasing+the+Trout

__** Releasing the Trout by Kerry LeVielle and Matt Kellish **__ Welcome to the zenith of our “Trout in the Classroom” experiment! This is the final step, releasing the trout into their natural habitat. Our release site is the Lisha Kill Nature Preserve on Rosendale Rd. We have examined this site and have deemed it habitable for Brook trout. The site has proper BMI (insects which the trout eat), tree coverage, dissolved oxygen, and is the proper size/current speed for Brook trout. This final step involves our class taking the trout from the classroom, placing them in buckets, putting the buckets in the truck, and transporting the fish to the site.

Materials:
 * Buckets filled with non-chlorinated water. This will be used for transporting the fish
 * The water should be chilled to 50 degrees Fahrenheit
 * Nets to transport the fish from the tank into the buckets
 * Plastic cups for scooping fish from buckets and releasing them into the actual stream
 * Ice to keep buckets cool while driving to the Lisha Kill Preserve
 * DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) Stocking permit to release the fish

We received our shipment of Trout eggs from the SUNY Cobleskill Hatchery on November 30th and released them to the Lisha Kill site on April 28th. Here are our total results from the project.


 * Total Trout || 215 ||
 * Trout Deaths || 77 ||
 * Released Trout || 138 ||
 * Mortality Rate || 38% ||

Procedure:
 * The water in the buckets must be 50 degrees Fahrenheit and properly filtered.
 * Move the fish from the classroom tanks into the buckets using nets.[[image:dscn0384.jpg width="393" height="307" align="right"]]
 * Place the buckets in the bed of Mr. Scott’s truck.
 * Make sure the buckets are tied down and secured in the bed of the truck.
 * Once secured, the buckets must be surrounded with ice to maintain proper temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
 * Walk the buckets from the parking lot to the stream site.
 * Using the cups, scoop the fish from the buckets and release the fish into the Lisha Kill.

We had a successful trout release. Our class carried the buckets into the preserve and put the trout in the stream. They seemed to immediately adjust to the environment. The class is hoping for 10-15% of the trout to survive and take to their new environment. If this were to happen, a sustainable trout population could take place and the trout could become a permanent population of the Lisha Kill.