Mon The Fish!
In 2022, we partnered with the Clyde River Foundation on 'Mon the Fish' - an offshoot of their ‘Clyde in the Classroom’ initiative. Clyde in the Classroom is a hands-on project which uses the life history of a native Scottish species, the brown trout, to promote awareness of river ecology among young people across the River Clyde catchment. Over 120 children from four local primary schools - Dalmarnock, Riverbank, St Francis and St Anne’s - were provided with a tank of trout fry to care for over a six-week period.
Pupils were responsible for ensuring the conditions in the hatchery mimicked those of a healthy Scottish river while the fish developed - the water had to be cool, clean and running. From temperature control to removal of dead eggs, pupils worked round the clock to care for their fishy classmates. Weekly workshops and visits from Clyde River Foundation staff ensured the children learned about the river and the life cycle of the fish before they were released into the river as part of a restocking programme.
The Return of The Salmon
Plenty of fish in the sea, as they say, but for many years, there were few in the Clyde. At one time, the river was one of the most polluted in Britain - industrial effluent from the many dye-works, printworks, chemical works and sewage works upstream of the weir had turned it into a dead zone. Salmon, once abundant in the river, had not been seen since the mid-1800s.
1983 marked the first salmon run on the Clyde in well over a century. This event was hugely significant - salmon are sensitive to pollution and need clean, cool water to survive- their return to the river indicates how much the water quality has improved.
'The return of the iconic Atlantic salmon to the River Clyde is possibly the biggest good-news story in freshwater biology'
Dr William Yeomans (Clyde River Foundation)
