Kelso students raise, release salmon into Cowlitz River
On a drizzly Wednesday afternoon, Kelso students released hundreds of juvenile coho salmon into the Cowlitz River. If they're lucky, two of the salmon will live long enough to return and lay their eggs here next year.
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Students from all six of Kelso's elementary schools have helped raise the salmon from eggs as part of their STEAM classes. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.
Coho salmon, sometimes also called silver salmon, are considered a threatened species in the Columbia River and its tributaries, including the Cowlitz River, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Releasing salmon
Emmie Dahl, a Transition to Kindergarten student at Lexington Elementary School, prepares to release juvenile coho salmon into the Cowlitz River Wednesday, April 22. Students at each Kelso elementary school helped hatch and raise the salmon as part of a STEAM project.
Funding fish
An anonymous donor provided 250 eggs for each school, along with tanks and other supplies. Students from Transition to Kingergarten through fifth grade visited the salmon during weekly STEAM classes and learned about their life cycle and their traditional importance to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
This is the second year every elementary school has had its own tank, said Tammy Parsons, a STEAM teacher at Lexington Elementary School.
The project would not be possible without the donor because of how expensive the supplies are, she said. The cooling systems alone, which keep the water in the tank at a habitable temperature, can cost $600 each.
With the Kelso School District facing its third year of budget cuts, that's not something schools can easily afford.
"You're not going to fund fish," Parsons said.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has a similar program that provides schools with salmon eggs, but its website states that the schools must provide their own aquarium equipment. The state program also only provides enough for one school, Parsons said.
Collecting fish
Lexington Elementary School STEAM teachers Camryn Hansen, left, and Tammy Parsons collect salmon for transport Wednesday, April 22. The salmon were released into the Cowlitz River later that day.
Ready for release
After hatching, salmon spend several months as alevin, a baby stage in which they do not eat and instead consume nutrients from a yolk sac attached to their stomachs.
Once the yolk sac is consumed, the salmon become fry. At this point, they are ready to be released into the river, where they will live for about a year before journeying to the Pacific Ocean.
Their chances of survival are not high. Out of every 3,000 eggs, two salmon will survive long enough to spawn, Parsons said.
It is difficult to tell exactly how many of Lexington Elementary's salmon reached the fry stage, but STEAM teacher Camryn Hansen estimated that there were at least 200 remaining by the time she and Parsons gathered them from their tank.
They brought the salmon to Parsons' Kelso home, which has a boat ramp on the Cowlitz River. Students then released the salmon into the river, with some giving them names and instructing them to swim well.
"Be free, fishies!" one student shouted.
Handing out cups
Lexington Elementary School STEAM teacher Tammy Parsons hands out containers for students to use to release salmon at her Kelso home Wednesday, April 22. The salmon will live in the river for about a year before traveling to the Pacific Ocean.
Bucket of fry
Coho salmon fry swim in a bucket at Lexington Elementary School Wednesday, April 22. At the fry stage, salmon start eating rather than absorbing nutrients from their yolk sac.
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