At a dam near Murray Bridge in South Australia, anticipation is growing as three schools on opposite sides of Adelaide come together to release dozens of rare river fish.
“I think all the kids felt like surrogate parents because we had raised them from small spots,” said Kerry White, principal of Holy Family Catholic School.
It is one of the few schools in South Australia that is collaborating with the non-profit organization Aquasave to remove the purple-spotted guillotine from the south from the brink of extinction.
The students of the Catholic school of the Sagrada Família are once again letting go of a joy with purple spots on nature. (Simon Goodes)
“They were declared extinct regionally between the 1970s and 1980s. No one had found them,” said environmentalist Sam Hardy.
“Then, in 2002, the fish was found again, but that was becoming increasingly rare.”
Children fighting for the future of fish
Sam Hardy says kids are playing a vital role in changing that by raising the small slow-moving ambush predator that many people know nothing about.
“If they didn’t, we just wouldn’t have them.”
Fish farm director Gerry McCarthy helps students release the rare fish they have raised. (Kerry Staight)
“It’s a great way to bring these young people closer to what we’re doing and to really get the message out that these fish are important,” the environmentalist said.
For the director of the Holy Family Catholic School fish farm, it has also been a personal turn.
“I just wanted to catch fish when I started, and now I’m saving fish, so it’s been a great transition,” Gerry McCarthy said.
McCarthy runs a company called Teach Fish SA, which he started after four decades of teaching and educational leadership.
He initially took students on fishing trips, but when Holy Family Catholic School gave him the green light, he set up an aquaponics farm at Parafield Gardens Elementary School.
Students Jed and Kayden begin their day feeding barramundi at the fish farm. (Kerry Staight)
He has been very successful among students such as 10-year-old Kayden, who loves to feed the energetic barramundi.
“Whenever we put the fish in it, they like to shake it and take it out,” he said.
While the well-known big barramundi appeals to the crowd, it has been the addition of the lesser known little purple-spotted gudgeon that has taken the project to the next level.
The school has been building a series of billabongs to cater to the growing population.
Fun learning
From the design of the farm to its maintenance and care of the residents, there are many valuable lessons in the practical fish center.
One of the main lessons is about sustainable food production, with water from the tanks used to cultivate the school’s extensive orchard.
“Do kids who are more reluctant at school like this because they don’t see it as a school, and sometimes they say almost suspiciously ‘I’m learning’?” said director Kerry White.
Students collect lettuce at the aquaponics farm. (Simon Goodes)
“We’ve greatly affected school attendance with initiatives like this.”
The fish farm, which includes interactive educational equipment next to the farm, has also been incorporated into more traditional subjects such as science, English and math.
“Going in here and having the data live instead of printing it on a page … it’s alive, it’s breathing, they’re more interactive with it, and that just creates a better learning experience for them,” he said. numbering coach Matthew DePalma.
The school hosts more than 20 species of fish.
The fish farm has been incorporated into the school’s artistic and cultural studies. (Kerry Staight)
Hope for endangered species
Meanwhile, back at the Murray Bridge Reservation, it’s time for students to say goodbye to their first batch of home-grown gudgeon.
“Hopefully, they’ll find a mate and reproduce,” student Jed said, releasing a fish.
“I hope they are happy in their new environment, and I hope they stay healthy,” said Javeiria, another student involved.
Returning endangered fish to nature is a challenge in SA, with drought and carp affecting their preferred habitat.
Urbrae Agricultural High School students release the joy they have raised in the reserve. (Kerry Staight)
“They love the slower parts of streams and rivers that move faster,” Sam Hardy said.
“However, the quality of the water in these places has dropped dramatically.”
Previous launches at the site where they were last found on the Murray River have not taken off.
So environmentalists are accumulating numbers in more suitable places away from the river until they can put reality up to par.
Sam Hardy is confident that students’ efforts to give fish a chance to fight will pay off.
The southern purple-spotted gudío was declared regionally extinct. (Fixed line)
“If we can fine-tune our management of these places up and down the canal and we can find out exactly what these fish need, there is a very good chance,” he said.
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