Stromness Primary release their fry in the Mill Burn.

Last Thursday, Mr Taylor’s P6 class put on their wellie-boots and headed for the banks of the Mill Burn which runs only a few trout leaps away from their school… What started as a handful of pea-sized orange eggs had turned into very healthy fry, with hardly a hint of a yolk sac left. It must have taken a lot of care and dedication to reach such a successful outcome as the tank temperature at Stromness Primary was in the “danger” zone of 11-12˚C. Mr. McLeod and the pupils must have kept a very close eye on water quality!

Malcolm Thomson led the release operation and all the pupils managed to let some fry swim freely into the lovely little burn which starts its short journey to the sea in the Stromness Hills, runs under the Academy car-park through a pipe and eventually meets Scapa Flow below the school.

Extra care was needed when releasing the fish in order to avoid thermal shock and the tank water temperature which was 9°C was gently lowered by adding burn water and bringing it to around 5˚C to match the new fry environment.

Malcolm also did a few “kick-samples” by stirring the bottom of the burn and collecting micro-invertebrates into a fine mesh net. The children were able to see what the diet of their fish was going to be for the next few years: gammarus (freshwater shrimps), snails, mayfly nymphs, small worms and a chiton. It’s all very reassuring to see the larder full before our fry start feeding on their own!

A big thank you to Malcolm for making himself available and for sharing his vast knowledge of trout with the youngsters!

Mr P.


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