Mar 23, 2019 5 min read

If a local group succeeds in its plan, Greene County students may soon be able to raise catfish in the classroom.

Catfish in the Classroom is based on the concept of Trout in the Classroom, a program already active in some county school districts like Carmichaels, Southeastern Greene and West Greene. However, the new program will have advantages over its trout counterpart said Eric Davis, waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission assigned to Washington and Greene Counties.

“Greene County doesn’t have any cold water streams in which the trout can be stocked, which necessitates their transport to the mountains of Fayette County,” Davis said. “This often places a financial burden on the school districts. On the other hand, catfish can be stocked in local warm water streams, which are able to support them.”

According to Davis, every school district in the county is less than 10 minutes from a stream that will support catfish habitat. Central Greene, West Greene and Jefferson-Morgan are all close to Ten Mile Creek, while Carmichaels is close to Muddy Creek and Southeastern Greene is near Whiteley Creek. Additionally, all five school districts are close enough to the Monongahela River, which can also be a stocking site for catfish raised at the schools. Wisecarver Reservoir could also serve as another catfish stocking option.

“Catfish in the Classroom also has another advantage in that it’s less expensive to start up than the trout program,” Davis said. “All you need is a small aquarium and filtration and aeration systems. We don’t want to stop or supplant the trout program, just add the catfish program to the school districts.”

The idea for Catfish in the Classroom has been percolating in the county by a group of adherents for the past three years. Besides Davis, who’s supporting the program as a private individual, the group includes members of the Izaac Walton League of America-Harry Enstrom Chapter; Wayne Rossiter, an assistant professor of biology at Waynesburg University; representatives from three of the county’s school districts and two financial donors who wish to remain anonymous.

The school district representatives include Karlie Wright of West Greene, Kevin Willis and Ken Perkins of Carmichaels and Amber Burkett of Southeastern Greene. Tait Klein of Bethlehem-Center School District in Washington County has also been an active supporter of the program.

According to Davis, the Izaak Walton League has already provided some technical support from its members and has financial support earmarked for the purchase of equipment and fish. At Waynesburg University, Rossiter has made application to become a cooperative fish nursery with the Fish and Boating Commission.

On Friday, Fish and Boating Commissioner Don Anderson and cooperative nursery unit leader, Brian McHail, will do a site survey at Waynesburg University.

If the application is approved and the university agrees, Rossiter could receive several hundred channel catfish this fall from one of several Fish and Boat Commission fish hatcheries.

Within days of receiving them, the university could disburse between 15 and 25 catfish to the participating school districts, once the water quality and temperature is verified and the aeration and filtration systems are in place at the schools. The students would then be responsible for feeding and caring for the fish. They would also monitor water quality, feeding and growth rates as well as pass the data along to Waynesburg University where it used by the students in their curriculum.

“The idea is to raise the catfish until the end of the school year,” Davis said. “By that time they’d should be fingerlings, three to four inches long, and ready for stocking in area waters.”

Davis and other group members have had conversations with the Greene County Conservation District about providing technical support and possible financial assistance. According to Davis, the conservation district has a $5,000 grant, and the catfish program falls within the eligibility guidelines.

“Although we haven’t officially made application for the grant, it is my belief that we have a strong chance of getting our application approved,” he said. “Coupled with (that) grant and the money we already received from our donors, we would be close to having $7,000 with which to start up the program. That’s even before we approached area sportsmen’s clubs and non-profits for donations.”

If the project is approved and gets underway, Davis and Rossiter plan to visit each school district to assess specific needs for each area. They hope to have the program up and running by September or October.

In the meantime, Davis said he hopes the public will learn what the group is trying to accomplish and reach out to their school districts to provide financial support and professional expertise.

For more information about Catfish in the Classroom or to learn how to help get the program running, email Davis at erdavis@pa.gov.