Aquaculture Adventures Part 1

Finally, I have taken a step back from the roller coaster that has been the last 8 months to reflect on my Peace Corps fish pond project. The school is on break right now, and I only have 2 months left in my service (end of service June 14th), so it is a perfect time to pause and summarize our months of work. In two separate posts, here is how our aquaculture project has played out.

Dreaming of fish

In August 2018, we contracted a local engineering company to build a 10mX12mX1.5m cement fish pond on the school grounds.

A rainy day to build a fish pond.

A month later we bumped and jostled our way in a jeep to the aquaculture facilities of the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) to pick up the 500 fry that they donated to our project.

Carp fry packed into oxygenated bags for transport.

After packing the five different types of carp into oxygenated bags, and we sloshed our way back to the school. Miraculously, there were very few mortalities. Even though it was getting dark as we arrived at the school, a crowd showed up to watch and cheer as we carefully released the fry into their new pond.

The pond dressed in ribbons to scare birds away.

By that point, it was late September and the cold season had started. As the water temperatures dropped, the fish swam straight to the bottom and stayed there. Every day for the next two months, community members and students asked me what had happened to the fish as they had seen neither tail nor fin of them.

Hoping to spot a fish

A few people gravely told me that the entire project had been a waste of time, as all the fish must have died. I reassured everyone that all 500 fish had not died at the bottom of the pond, but I could tell that they still did not entirely believe me.

To prove my case, and to measure how much the fish had grown over the last few months, I asked one of the village grandfathers who had fished the local rivers in his younger years, to make a casting net for the school. Shortly after, however, he was diagnosed with eye cancer and was unable to make the net for about a month. After recovering from surgery and chemo, he finished the net, and although frail from treatment, he took it upon himself to teach me how to properly caste the net. All the neighbors giggled as he and his son corrected my form and throwing technique as I caught sticks and bits of grass on the lawn in front of their home.

Having only played around with a casting net when I was 9, I had forgotten that it is quite difficult to do correctly, especially when there is only a 3-foot opening in the fence around the school pond to cast through. I was having a hard time finding someone who could take on the task, but eventually, one of the teachers said he could do it.

The excitement builds

On the much-anticipated fish-catching day, the entire high school gathered around the fish pond and impatiently called for someone to show them the fish. At that point, my net-casting teacher was nowhere to be found, but before the day fell apart, one of the students emerged from the crowd and volunteered. He threw off his shoes and uniform jacket and we watched in amazement as with cast after beautiful cast, he hauled up healthy shining fish.

The day's hero casting from a tight spot.

Watching in amazement

My task was to run around with a bucket of fish and show the students what exactly was living in the pond in the middle of their school grounds. My own excitement matched the students’ as I explained the different names of the fish, where they lived in the water column, and what they ate.

Checking out the fish. Richard, the volunteer closest to me, also attended, and captured some of the day's events.

About a week after the exciting fish-catching day, some of the fish started coming to the surface to feed, and the students developed a deep attachment to their aquatic classmates. Now when I walk through the school gates, the students give me detailed reports on how many fish came to the surface, the approximate time of day, and how much they seemed to have grown. Seeing the students care for animals that are so foreign from themselves reminds me of why I chose to study fisheries in school. Our curiosity with the secret lives of fish connects us to water, soil, changes in weather, and makes us aware of our own impact on the natural world.

A healthy young carp

The aquaculture adventure continues with the next post…