Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Bethany's fishy poem

Pupils at Thorneyholme School have written poems with a fishy theme.

We are promised lots more, but here are the first few for you to enjoy:-

Canals 

Canals are quiet, canals are great,

Sometimes they have ducks sitting straight.

I saw a silver fish swimming by,

Then it said to me goodbye.

I heard a bird in a tree,

It sang a lovely tune for me.

I saw a frog saying Hi,

Then it caught a juicy fly.

The sun was setting.  It said goodbye,

It is time to go home I thought with a sigh!

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Billy's fishy poem

DOWN A RIVER

I saw a boat that actually sank,

I am upon the river bank.

I heard a splish and a splash,

Then a big bang and crash.

In the water I saw a frog,

It was sat on a river log.

I saw a shiny fish,

That wasn’t on a dish.

I saw a fish that did not fly,

Looking up at the bright blue sky.

The sun was going down,

Now my child do not frown.

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Oliver's fishy poem

The life cycle of the trout

Hello I am an alevin.

I only have a small fin.

My Dad is bigger than me.

I am smaller than a flea.

Hello I am a little fry.

I can hear a boy cry.

Now a car whistles by.

And I jump up for a fly.

Hello I am a parr.

Look at that man with the jar.

Look at that car over there so far.

Oh no I’m in the jar.

Hello I am a smolt.

Look at that man saying halt.

Oh look at that float.

Now I’m near a boat.

Hello I am an adult trout.

On no my son is in that boat.

Come here my smolt.

It’s not your fault.

You could swim down to the salt.

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It's a Trout's Life

Children at Brabin's Endowed School in Chipping have been studying the life of the trout.  They have had fun illustrating its journey to the sea and back in a series of lovely pictures.

Click Download brabins_trout_story.pdf to see the completed work.

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It's all going swimmingly at St Leonard's Padiham

Our eggs hatched just before half term. It was really 'eggs-iting' as we could see the tiny fry come out with their yolk sacks.
This week we have given them their first taste of fish food. Just a pinch. They are really active and we are looking forward to watching them grow.

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Around the Hatcheries on 27 February

The three Lancashire hatcheries were all doing well.  At Brabin’s and St Leonard’s schools the eggs had all hatched.  The alevins were mainly keeping to the gravel with a very occasional venture to the top of the water by one fish.  The tanks were still wrapped with the reflective insulation to keep them cool.

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At Thorneyholme the eggs had not yet hatched.  This is thought to be because the water had been kept at 7^oC through the half-term holiday.  The thermostat was turned up by a couple of degrees, which would encourage the eggs to develop

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At St Leonard’s the tank is situated in the year 1 & 2 classroom but the whole school is taking an interest.  The children had been fascinated to see the eyes of the fish through the translucent eggs.  They noticed that their eyes got bigger and bigger before the alevins eventually hatched out.

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Which came first - the trout or the egg?

That is the question the pupils of years 3 & 4 at Thorneyholme RC Primary School, Dunsop Bridge are pondering.

In preparation for the Trout in the Classroom project they have produced this wonderful display.  It shows the different stages that trout change through as they grow from an egg into a mature fish, which goes on to lay futher eggs.  The text was produced as a factual writing element in their literacy lessons and they worked hard on their artwork too.

(Click the picture to see a larger version).

The trout or the egg - we will never know which was created first.  Any attempt to answer such eternal questions always goes around in circles, just as the life cycle of a trout goes round and round.

Years 3 & 4 have also been thinking of other fish that live in the river.  They were so interested that some children even dedicated their break times to generate an alphabetical list.

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Trout Life Cycle

Click the link below for a printable leaflet showing the Trout Life Cycle

Download trout_life_cycle.pdf

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Installation of the Tanks

Finding out all about trout. 

Watching the eggs being put into the tank.  Will they really grow to be big fish one day?

   

This is what the tanks look like.

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Welcome to the Fish Egg Blog

Easter may be early this year but pupils at three Lancashire schools will be looking after eggs of a different kind. Children at Brabin's Endowed Primary, Chipping, Thorneyholme Primary, Dunsop Bridge and St. Leonard's Primary at Padiham are keeping a watch on newly installed fish tanks in their schools containing sea trout eggs, being part of the Trout-in-the-Classroom scheme promoted and overseen by Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust based at Castle Cement Ltd in Clitheroe.

The eggs are starting to hatch and the children will feed the fry before finally releasing them into their local river or stream to increase trout numbers.

Said Stephen Hatton, the Trust's Habitat Project Manager, “ The aim of the scheme is to promote a better understanding of the rivers and streams by the children in a very hands-on way and encourage them to look after their rivers and keep them clean and healthy for future generations. Hopefully in years to come they will see adult fish returning to spawn in the very same stream they were released into”. Action Ribble Estuary secured funding for the tanks through Lancashire County Council's Green Partnership Awards and the Environment Agency matched the funds through the Ribble Fisheries Action Plan. The Environment Agency also provided the eggs from local streams.

This blog will keep you updated on the fishes' progress and show you how else the children are being involved in this exciting project.

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