Press Release, 9 April 2009
THERE’S SOMETHING FISHY GOING ON
The Something Fishy educational programme has been continuing in earnest throughout the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board. The purpose of the programme is to create awareness of the fisheries resource and to educate fifth and sixth class children on the importance of their local environment, fishery habitat and Ireland’s fish species.
38 schools throughout the Region are participating in the programme, 7 of which are in the Greater Dublin area: St. Patrick’s Girls and Boys Schools, Ringsend, St. Pius X Girls school, Templeogue, Scoil Na Coroina Mhuire and Nun’s Cross national schools in Ashford, Ladyswell national school in Mulhuddart and Chapelizod girls national school.
The first stage is for fisheries staff to visit the schools to discuss the lifecycle of salmon, the fisheries resource and the local river with the children. This augments the lessons the teachers use with their class from the Something Fishy website. This is then followed by a field trip where children can practically experience nature, the river and its broader environment. In Dublin, the River Dodder was the focal point of the field trip and it focused on the ecology and the relationship between the river and the native woodland. In Wicklow, Mount Usher Gardens kindly gave usage of their facility and bankside of the river Vartry to explore the biodiversity of the river catchment. Following nature walks, kick samples and electrofishing took place whereby children could identify invertebrates, measure the fish and examine the age classes of salmon and trout.
Over 450 young people have now participated in this programme in the Dublin area. Each school is now in the process of collating this information for their project which will be submitted as part of a Regional competition in association with Blackrock and West Dublin education centres. From this the winners will then go forward to a national competition. All schools seem to be taking a different angle on the projects with one school making a radio programme, another making a powerpoint presentation to explain the project at their Science EXPO for parents. Tom O’Briain, co-ordinator from Blackrock education centre remarked: ‘This project certainly stimulates the children’s interest in the local environment. It makes a very exciting contribution to the learning process about the local area which is a key strand in the Irish National Curriculum in both Geography and Science’.
The ‘Something Fishy’ project is developed by the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards in association with Blackrock Education Centre and has proved a highly successful way of encouraging young people to take an interest in Irish fish species, their local environment and habitat. The Dublin Angling Initiative is also involved in a salmon egg rearing project whereby schools are actively looking after salmon eggs, watching them grow and ultimately they will be released into the local river. Of the 38 schools participating in the Something Fishy project in the Region, the next focus will be on the schools in Wexford which will begin in earnest shortly.
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Media enquiries: Josie Mahon, Eastern Regional Fisheries Board, 15A Main Street, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Tel: 01 278 7022 / 087 6538202, email: josie.mahon@erfb.ie
Website: www.fishingireland.net Email:info@erfb.ie
Notes to Editor
The ‘Something Fishy’ website is aimed at fifth and sixth classes and comprises of 9 double-sided activity cards for pupils, which explore different aspects of fish life, e.g. water, fish, the life cycle of a salmon, fish stocks, angling, conservation of our rivers and lakes, and fish as part of the food chain. Teachers’ notes which accompany each individual activity card include relevant background information and guidelines on working through the lesson. The pack is accompanied by a high quality poster, developed by Liam O’Briain, an experienced teacher, angler and artist, and aims to aid the learning process in order to keep the children interested once the activity cards have been completed. The pack is available in Irish and English and is supported with an interactive website: www.somethingfishy.ie .
The Dublin Angling Initiative was set up in 1995. Its principle aims are to promote, develop and improve angling in the Dublin and Greater Dublin area and is sponsored by the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board. During the summer months the main work of the initiative is taking young people from National and Secondary schools, summer projects and youth services throughout Dublin City Centre and its suburbs on fishing courses. Already thousands of young people have been introduced to the joys of sea, coarse and game angling at the venues that are accessible by bus and rail from Dublin City centre.
The Eastern Regional Fisheries Board is a statutory authority whose function is to conserve, develop, protect, manage and promote the inland fisheries and sea angling resources within its jurisdiction. The Region extends from the border in Northern Ireland to South of the Wexford coast and includes all catchments which enter the sea between these boundaries. For further information, please visit www.fishingireland.net