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Students release salmon into river

By Carolyn Marnon ecological topics. He wants to find
118 small chinook salmon were other ways to incorporate the
released into the Rouge River at Salmon in the Classroom into the
Goudy Park last month. Wayne Me- English curriculum. As the advisor
morial High School teacher Scott for the ECO Club, he teaches stu-
Martin, members of the ECO Club, dents on the flora and fauna of the
representatives of the Michigan DNR ecosystem.
(Department of Natural Resources)
and Friends of the Rouge, and other “The number one reason
interested parties gathered on the
banks of the river to release the 4- that the DNR supports
inch salmon one by one into the this living resource
swirling waters. The salmon will feed
in the Rouge and Detroit rivers program is to build a
throughout the spring and then they
will move downstream into Lake connection between
Erie during the summer. The salmon students and the
will spend 1.5-3.5 years in the lake
before returning to the river to natural resources
spawn and then die.
How did they get the salmon to re- found around them.”
lease? Mr. Martin was accepted last
May into the DNR’s Salmon in the According to the Salmon in the
Classroom program. The program Classroom Teacher Guide, “The
teaches how to raise salmon from number one reason that the DNR
eggs in the fall up to releasing smolts supports this living resource pro-
in the spring. Students learn how to gram is to build a connection be-
maintain the tank and care for the tween students and the natural
fish in the interim. There are over resources found around them. In
300 classrooms in the state partici- Michigan, this program began mod-
pating in the program. estly in 1997 with a handful of
Two large buckets contained the Ms. Murray, a staff member at WMHS, giggles as she participates in the sea lamprey schools. Since that time, interest has
small salmon swimming over, under, sucking demonstration. Photo by Carolyn Marnon exploded and the DNR is pleased to
and around each other as they were see this program has the potential
carried to the banks of the river. One for tremendous impact.”
by one, they were collected into a After the salmon release, the
plastic cup with water and handed to DNR’s Ms. Page presented a talk on
students and other interested parties sea lampreys, an invasive species to
who wanted to participate in the re- our waters. It is native to the Atlantic
lease. The DNR representative, Tracy Ocean. In our waters, the sea lam-
Page, Aquatic Education Coordina- preys will suction onto fish and suck
tor for the Salmon in the Classroom out the bodily fluids, weakening the
program, advised everyone partici- fish. Once it lets go of the fish, the
pating to place a hand over the cup fish will have a large wound which
top to keep the fish from jumping will get infected. It eventually dies.
out. The student would get as close Ms. Page had two lampreys in a tank
to the water’s edge as possible and which she shared with everyone. She
then gently let the fish swim free. walked around the circle of gathered
Students releasing the fish into onlookers letting each person “pet”
the river, some students coming the lamprey, which is quite slimy feel-
back two or three times to do more, ing. She also let anyone interested
is a simple way to stock the water- A student releases a 4-inch chinook salmon into the Rouge River at Goudy Park. Photo have their hand “sucked” by the lam-
ways. It was interesting to learn that by Carolyn Marnon prey. The first man who volunteered
the DNR also stocks the waterways It can cost $1500-2500 to get the tific Collector’s Permit which allows said “It felt like a powerful suction
from airplanes. program started in the classroom. the classroom to hold the fish. The and left a tiny tooth,” after the lam-
25,000 salmon are released each Trout Unlimited sponsored seven second permit is the Stocking permit prey was removed. This writer
year across the state as a result of schools, including WMHS Mr. Mar- which allows for the release of the thought it felt like a vacuum hose
the classroom program. The survival tin’s classroom. Mr. Martin needed a fish. Students are not allowed to stuck to the hand, but she wasn’t
rate in the classroom is 65-75%. tank and chiller units that keep the take the fish home to raise. gifted a tooth.
Once released, everything is a preda- water cold. Salmon are coldwater Mr. Martin, an English teacher, If you’d like more information on
tor, including water birds and cray- fish. said his students did mini units on the Salmon in the Classroom pro-
fish, until the salmon reach about 9 The release program requires the topics of land and water, some gram, visit https://www.michigan-
inches (which takes about a year.) two permits. The first is the Scien- nature writing and learned about .gov/dnr/education/educators/sic
4 · May 2022 · The Wayne Dispatch