NEWPORT MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TO RELEASE SALMON FRY INTO THE PAWCATUCK RIVER ON MONDAY, JUNE 19
Students Raised Salmon Fry as Part of DEM's Salmon in the Classroom Program

PROVIDENCE - One hundred thirty students from Newport's Thompson Middle School will release salmon fry that were raised in their classrooms into the Pawcatuck River in Hopkinton on Monday, June 19, from 9:45 - 10:30 a.m.

The salmon fry were raised as part of the Department of Environmental Management's "Salmon in the Classroom" program, which is sponsored by the Division of Fish & Wildlife's aquatic resource education program to introduce youngsters to aquaculture while complementing the Department's established salmon restoration program. The federally funded education program was first introduced in the United States more than a decade ago and is now used in all New England states.

Thompson Middle School was loaned equipment by DEM to construct an incubator system to raise 400-500 salmon eggs, which were donated by the US Fish and Wildlife North Attleboro, MA fish hatchery. While the eggs were hatching and developing into fry, Thompson teachers Elizabeth Small and Elizabeth Gibbs presented their classes with a curriculum that ranged from salmon biology and ecology to the history of Rhode Island's Industrial Revolution via bookwork and field trips. Thompson Middle School was one of 24 schools from throughout Rhode Island that participated in the program this year.

In addition to the students and teachers, others participating in the salmon release will include DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan, Ph.D., Senator Lincoln Chafee, and DEM aquatic resource education coordinator Kimberly Sullivan.

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