MATTAPOISETT — A hundred students gathered along the Mattapoisett River to bid 33 baby rainbow trout, about the size of a finger, farewell on May 29.

Pairs of students transported the trout to the river in paper cups and gently put them in the water, being careful not to drop them from far enough above the water to shock them.

Over the course of two days, starting on May 28, students released a total of 60 baby trout as a part of a project that educates students about the different life stages of the fish.

A total of 200 students participated, with a few high school students from AP Biology volunteering their time at the trout release.

"I thought it was fun," said eighth grader David Costa, "We watched them [grow] the whole time, so it's kind of like a sense of completion. We get to see them go off."

Educators at ORRJHS worked for two months to get a trout-release permit and received 200 trout eggs in November. They got the eggs from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife, and put them all in a fifty-gallon tank.

In December, students began raising the fish and learning more about the species and how to monitor water and life quality.

Only 60 of the trout survived, something ORRJHS eighth grade science teacher Sarah Toltin said was mostly the result of their competing against each other and the bigger ones cannibalizing the lesser sizes.

Toltin said this project can better help students understand their impact on the environment, overfishing and pollution. It also helps the ecosystem. 

"I just think this is a great program for the school to be working with the fisheries to help restock these rivers," said Toltin.