Schools in Schools: Shad Restoration Project
In partnership with Living Classrooms DC and the Anacostia Watershed Society, we will support students from the Washington, DC region to return American Shad to the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Students will collect shad eggs; raise them in tanks at their schools, and then release 20,000 shad fry at Old Angler’s Inn on the C&O Canal in Maryland, and at the National Arboretum along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail in Washington, DC.
Since 1996, over 50 schools from Washington D.C., Alexandria, Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties have raised American shad in their schools and released them at sites below Great Falls, at Occoquan Wildlife Refuge, and in the upper Anacostia River. The fish swim over 12,000 miles in their lifetime, leaving their release site in the Potomac River to swim out to sea and then returning to where they were born to lay their own eggs.
WHEN: Friday, May 10, 2013
WHERE: Old Angler’s Inn (Potomac River) or National Arboretum (Anacostia River)
REGISTRATION: Volunteer by helping students on shad release day. Contact Ed Stierli at estierli@npca.org or 202-454-3339. Space is limited!
OTHER INFO: All volunteers must be at least 18 years old. We might be getting wet or muddy! Please wear appropriate shoes and clothing. Volunteers are encouraged to bring a water bottle.
