For a dozen years, Benjamin Logan students have had the opportunity to hatch trout from eggs and raise the resulting alevin to a stage where they can be released into the wild.
This school year, all three Benjamin Logan buildings participated in the program.
Culminating their project May 17, students from the high school and elementary school traveled to the Lions Park in West Liberty to release this year’s crop of rainbow trout into Onion Run, a tributary of the Mad River.
The Trout in the Classroom program is sponsored by Trout Unlimited. Trout eggs are provided by the state hatchery in London, Ohio, and the release location of the fingerlings is determined by the state Division of Wildlife.
Benjamin Logan’s participation has been supported by Ohio EPA grant funding acquired by teachers Spencer Reames and Bruce Smith.
While raising the trout, students learn to maintain proper water chemistry so that the requirements for cold, clean water are met for the fish.
The Mad River, being one of Ohio’s few cold-water ecosystems, is able to support brown trout and rainbow trout, Smith noted.
Trout are special. Beyond their role in aquatic ecosystems worldwide, a 2023 study focusing on the Driftless Area, which includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, found that trout fishing has a $1.6 billion impact, Smith noted.