Atlantic Salmon Egg Rearing Program

Mrs. Desmarais' 4th Grade Atlantic Salmon Egg Rearing Program (ASERP)

Darren Desmarais, Fisheries Biologist at the Richard Cronin National Salmon Station in Sunderland, visited Deerfield Elementary School in February to speak to our fourth grade classes. The children enjoyed learning about the Atlantic salmon restoration program, challenges that salmon face, and the interestingly complex life cycle of salmon. We watched a short video of the spawning process, which occurs in the fall, and the children looked at preserved samples of eggs both in and out of the female egg sac. Once the children’s questions were asked and answered, we headed outside to observe two live salmon swimming in a small tank on the back of Mr. Desmarais’ truck.
		The eggs have arrived! We received approximately 200-300 eggs to care for in their new home – our classroom fish tank. A single salmon can lay thousands of eggs at a time.
		Close-up of salmon eggs with their eyes visible.
		Dead eggs turn white and need to be removed from the tank to keep the water clean. We removed 6-7 dead eggs.
		Our eggs are hatching into alevin. We noticed the first few before February vacation. By the end of February they had all hatched.
		The sac attached to newly hatched salmon gives the alevin what they need to grow.
		The salmon has absorbed most of its food sac and is now called a fry. It has grown fins and actually looks like a fish. It is ready to be fed brine shrimp.
Field Trip to Release Salmon at the Sawmill River and tour the Holyoke Fishway 2010 field trip Spawning Video 1, 2, 3 Archived Photos & Video Web Links: Atlantic Salmon IFDN -Salmon Game Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Life Cycle Fish and Wildlife Service