Category Archives: Dounby Primary

Alevins, Dounby Primary, North Walls, Papdale Halls, Sanday, St.Andrews Primary, Stromness Primary, Stronsay

Troot in the Shed 2014 update

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Hi everybody,

Just a quick update on Troot in the Shed 2014 so far:

  • Stromness Primary: The alevins were successfuly released in the Mill Burn last week.
  • Sanday School:  The alevins are very healthy and have suffered virtually no loss. The release date in Bea Loch is for 17/03.
  • Stronsay School:  Same situation as on Sanday with a release in the Meikle Water planned for 12/03.
  • St. Andrews Primary:  There isn’t much left of the alevins’ yolk-sacs and they should be swimming freely in the Burn of Quoykea by 13/03…
  • Papdale Halls of Residence: I’ve just received an update from Mr. Cuddihy and their alevins are doing very well but still have a substantial yolk sac, so the release into the Wideford Burn is probably still a couple of weeks away.
  • North Walls School: The alevins are healthy and well looked after – Thanks, Olivia, for letting us know!;-)
  • Dounby Primary: The release in the Burn of Hourston is scheduled for week starting 13/03.

All these dates, subject to the whims of the Orcadian weather of course…

We’ll keep you posted on the future developments…

Mr P.

Alevins, Dounby Primary

Burn of Hourston stocked by Dounby Primary

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Malcolm, briefing the Dounby pupils

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

Dounby Primary, ova / eggs

First alevins hatched at the Dounby School!

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The first alevins at the Dounby School

Yesterday, January 30th, the first ova hatched at the Dounby School and today over 20 alevins were counted!  There is no doubt that this is much earlier than in the other 3 schools running the same project. There is a significant difference in the mini-hatchery set-up at the Dounby School though: the tank has been placed in a cool cupboard inside the school and even though it is cooler than the rest of the school, the water temperature has been averaging 17°C (in comparison, the water temperature recorded at the Sanday mini-hatchery today was 4.7ºC). This much higher water temperature has had the effect of speeding up the hatching process. Last year, the first alevins appeared on Hoy on February 24th, nearly 4 weeks later! However, a high water temperature has a serious drawback as algae and fungus thrive much better in a warm environment. The figures, taken from http://trootinthecupboard.wordpress.com/ , show that so far about 100 ova have died and 21 have hatched successfully. Well done to the pupils and staff for hatching these ova in very challenging conditions!

Mr. P