Salmon...Not Just For Eating Anymore

Last week I had the opportunity to go hang with Asher on his field trip.  His fifth grade class is one of a handful of classes in the school district that get the opportunity to raise salmon from eggs in a salmon tank.

I learned a lot that day!  Salmon is a culture here in Alaska.  There are so many things that revolve around them.  Most people seem to know when the different types run and when the different fishing seasons are and about their life cycle and, of course, how to prepare them once you've caught them!

A very important (okay, of legal importance) thing I learned was that a permit had to be obtained to raise salmon in the classrooms.  Evidently, it is illegal in this state to raise wild fish.  This is simplistic, I know.  I don't know all the ins and outs of the laws but that is the gist of it.

If some of my pictures seem extra blurry it's because I had to blur out the images of kids that aren't mine.  Can't post anyone else's people on here without permission.  (call it, Amanda's legal policy).

We were out on the Chena River for this adventure.  Alright, we were on the bank with another class and the fish and game department.  It was beautiful!

And yes, the water was calm.  The other class, not so much.  But that is another story.

On to the salmon egg tale.  We were harvesting eggs from Coho (or silver) salmon if I understood correctly. Any corrections I will gladly take.  Coho salmon are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean, and then return to freshwater to spawn and die.  Circle of life.  They are silver in color while living in the ocean and when they return to freshwater to spawn they turn a deep red color.

In order for us (or fish and game for us) to harvest the eggs some salmon had to be caught.

And then bonked on the head.

Who said science wasn't brutal?  All the girls were, "Ewwww."  All the boys were, "Cool!"

The male is the top fish.  They grow that massive hook snout and teeth on their return to the river.  The female is the bottom fish (and those are the roe showing where her belly was cut).  The females spend the rest of their lives (be it hours or a couple of days) protecting the eggs.

So, during the demonstration I thought they were saying, "Milk" instead of "Milt."  Asher graciously corrected me when I was explaining the fertilization process at dinner that night to Bryon.

This is the end product that was taken back to the class to be put in the salmon tank.  For the rest of the school year they will be observing the growth of these eggs under very exact conditions (temperature, light exposure).  In May, the live salmon will be returned to Chena Lake so that the permit conditions are fulfilled (and so fish and game doesn't go and put a bunch of 5th graders on their "Most Wanted" list).

I learned just as much as the kiddos out there.  It's fascinating what a species will do just to make sure the next generation carries on.

I asked Asher tonight if anything had started happening in the tank yet.  He said, "One has an eye and it stares at me."

And cue the theme from The Twilight Zone.

Rowan had fun too.

Tell me my dear lab partners, what did you do in the name of science back in the day? (or last week. whatever.)