Shawnigan students are enjoying the benefits of an outdoor classroom.

Students in Mr. Scott Noble's Environmental Science 11 class and the Environment Club participated in a study of fish ecology this week, as they turned their attention to stock from Shawnigan Lake.

The recent sunshine brightened spirits on the lake, as the group spent Monday setting gill nets into both deep and shallow water. On Tuesday, the work began pulling the nets and disentangling the ensnared fish.

Finally, the students returned to the classroom on Wednesday to inspect what they had caught. They measured fish for size and weight and also examined them to determine gender and stomach contents.

Those findings will, in turn, help students understand the conditions the fish are living in and how climate and other variables might affect their diet and development. Fisheries Scientist Dave Preikshot took part in the exercise, as the students work in concert with his company, Madrone Environmental Services, as well as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to monitor and care for the local ecosystem.

Species collected include kokanee, sockeye salmon, smallmouth bass and pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow perch, catfish, and cutthroat and rainbow trout.

Of course, the research also enhances the learning that continues in Shawnigan's Mark Hobson Hatchery.

 

 

– Jon Zacks