The project ran very smoothly at Dounby Primary this session and last year’s disaster when all the alevins died shortly after hatching was soon forgotten!
The pupils managed to follow their small trout through all the stages, from ova, eyed ova, sac fry and eventually alevins. Malcolm Thomson, very kindly, was overseeing the project with the school and on Friday 15th March, he and Mr. Forsyth led a group of very keen youngsters to the nearby Burn of Hourston to release the alevins. The receiving water which we applied for was originally the Burn of Netherborough and the Burn of Hourston was a last minute switch which made sense from a transport point of view, but the stocking consent had to be sought before we could go ahead. I would like to thank Marine Scotland who were very flexible with the application to release our fish; after a couple of phone calls and an email, we received permission the same day to proceed with the release in the new water.
The burn was a bit coloured but there was a gravel shelf along the edge where the youngsters could release their fish and watch them for a few moments before they disappeared.
Malcolm also did a kick sample, literally, stirring the gravel bed and sweeping through with a fine mesh net to collect invertebrates hidden amongst the gravel and to observe them closely, an activity which captivated the children!
The pupils were very keen to run the project again and they may even have an opportunity to attend an electro-fishing session which Malcolm is considering running in April/May in Orphir.
Well done to everybody for looking after the alevins so well. Looking forward to next year already!
Mr.P
