Students at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma are engaged in a project aimed at saving steelhead trout in their watershed. Under the guidance of hatchery director Dan Hubacker, these budding biologists are tasked with increasing fish survival rates and assessing genetic diversity. Using a federal permit, they rescue steelhead from surrounding creeks to nurture them in their unique student-run hatchery, which is equipped with tracking technology to monitor fish movements and health, marking a significant advancement in local conservation efforts.
One is to give them a chance to hopefully boost some of the survival rate of the fish that are out there, but also being able to collect some of the genetics and have it a long-term picture as to what how much genetic diversity is found in this watershed and what long term efforts can be done to recover the species.
We take the fish that we have in our hatchery and we're putting a little microchip into their bellies, so that we can track where they're moving up and down the creeks.
The rescue and release permits mark a turning point for the student led restoration efforts -- at a time when they may be more valuable than ever.
It's really important to keep the genetic diversity as strong as possible in the species, and that allows for a better chance of survival.
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