Primary school students reintroduce endangered fish in Delta de l’Ebre

Thousands of threatened species of fish have been re-introduced into a national park in southern Catalonia on Friday with the help of a group of primary school children.

The experience serves as a lesson of the importance in conserving and protecting these threatened species and their surroundings, according to teachers and students alike.

A total of 2,000 samarucs (commonly known as the Valencian toothcarp), endemic throughout the south of the country, and 1,500 cobitis paludicas, a type of ray-finned fish were released into fresh water in the delta region, near the border with Valencia. Both species are threatened by pollution and habitat loss.

“There are very few of these fish left,” one student, “not just here but all around the world, so we have to help them survive.”

The released specimens will be tracked from the park’s ichthyological center where they were raised. In recent years, the center managed to breed and maintain between 7,000 and 10,000 specimens of various species. This year the breeding of the cobitis paludica has been remarkably satisfactory, with more than 3000 specimens, compared to other years when breeding numbers ranged between 200 and 400 of the species.