Trout project at WAHS

by Ruth Isenberg

The Weatherly Area High School students who got involved in the trout raising project knew they would be releasing the fish into the Lehigh River before the end of the school year. They were well prepared on a beautiful Wednesday morning, gathered at the boat launch at the White Haven access in Lehigh Gorge State Park.

With buckets and nets, they moved over 300 Rainbow trout into the cold water, first putting them into smaller containers that mixed river water with the water they’d been transported in. Then they watched, as the tiny fish began swimming away, searching for hiding places where they can grow from their present size of 2 or 3 inches to 12’ to 18” size.

The project started in late fall in the classroom of science teacher Erin DiGennaro. Weatherly mayor Paul John Hadzick and his brother Eddie, a pilot now living in Atlanta,