Fish For Stocking Programs Bred In Classroom
FRISCO, Colo. (CBS4)- Young fish are often released into Colorado's mountain streams and lakes as part of the restocking program. Now a new program means some of those fish could come from the classroom.
"It's been about a six-month process from hatching the fish as eggs to releasing them into the river," said Summit High School teacher Christopher Lambrecht.
Since Halloween 2012 students have been coming into Lambrecht's classroom to learn about trout and their habitats, watersheds, life cycles and more leading up to the day they'll be released into the wild.
"We just kind of learned how to take care of the fish and everything," said one student.
"It was a grand slam, it was a huge success. We got about 100 fish out of a little over 100 eggs so you couldn't do much better than that," said Lambrecht.
"We're the ones who would normally be stocking this stream so it's a partnership between Trout Unlimited and Summit High School and us as well," said Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Jon Ewert.
Trout Unlimited pays for the program which takes place at less than a handful of other high schools across Colorado.
Students gathered near a stream on Thursday that flows into the Blue River north of Breckenridge.
"This is kind of a refuge for them where we know the water quality is really good and when they get comfortable into adulthood they'll head into the main stream of the river," said Ewert.
The hope is the trout will eventually end up in Dillon Reservoir and then return to the same part of the river for spawning next spring.
"This is cool to come out and hopefully next year we'll be able to come back and see, hopefully, some fish still up here," said Summit High Junior Duncan Roberts.
"Hopefully we get a thriving population. As a fisherman I want to come back and catch these guys," said Lambrecht.
