Category Archives: Stromness Primary

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

Troot in the Shed 2014 update

March 6, 2014 Mr Pietri Leave a comment

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, Stromness Primary

Stromness Primary release their fry in the Mill Burn.

February 28, 2014 Mr Pietri Leave a comment

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.

Alevins, Stromness Primary

All eggs hatched at Stromness Primary

February 8, 2014 Mr Pietri Leave a comment

alevin trout in the shed — Newly hatched alevins at Stromness Primary (photo: M. Taylor)

With a rather warm location for their tank and a water temperature averaging 10°C, Stromness Primary’s ova had all hatched by last Monday morning (3/02). If we compare hatching times with last year, the Stronsay ova all hatched by 16/02 and on Sanday, it wasn’t until 27/02 that all the alevins were swimming freely. Let’s hope that the warm water doesn’t have any adverse effects on the young fish and that they can all be successfully released in a few weeks.

The fry release applications for all schools will be filled in and e-mailed this week-end and we should receive the consents by the end of the week.

Mr P.

ova / eggs, Stromness Primary

Welcome to Stromness Primary!

January 28, 2014 Mr Pietri Leave a comment

M. Thomson explaining the trout's life cycle to Mr Taylor's class.

Yesterday morning, Stromness Primary school joined the “Troot in the Shed” project for the first time.

Malcolm Thomson visited Mr Taylor’s class and introduced the pupils to the life cycle of the brown trout and sea-trout. They also were able to have a good look at the 100 or so trout ova collected earlier on in the morning from the Orkney Trout Fishing Association hatchery . The children will now have to make sure they look after the ova the best they can, by removing dead eggs and monitoring water temperature in order to be able to release the juvenile salmonids in a nearby burn by the end of March.

Mr P.