NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Fifteen students helped with fish stocking at Stanley Quarter Park Pond in New Britain on Thursday. The students, first through fifth graders, joined Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the New Britain Parks and Recreation Department to put rainbow and brook trout in the pond.
“We pride ourselves in giving children opportunities they might not get otherwise and sometimes we turn them onto something they never would’ve been part of before whether it’s arts or culture or something like this – fishing,” said Erik Barbieri, the director of the New Britain Parks and Rec Department.
“It was really fun but it was very slimy,” said New Britain middle school fifth grader Nevaeh Jones.
The students, off for spring break, joined the pros from the Fisheries Division of DEEP to help stock around 800 fish in the newly dredged pond.
“This is about exposure," said Matt Devine, a cold-water fisheries biologist with DEEP. "We want kids to be the stewards of the environment -- the next generation -- and if they know about these resources, they can use them and protect them.”
This Saturday, there will be a fishing derby open to the public at Stanley Quarter Park Pond from 9 a.m. to noon.
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Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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