Fifth-graders learn sustainable fishing from reel pros at Mote event

A group of 97 fifth-graders from Brentwood Elementary School in Sarasota County discovered the fun of sustainable fishing during Mote Marine Laboratory’s Teach-A-Kid Fishing & Ecology Clinic on Nov. 19 at Mote Aquaculture Research Park in eastern Sarasota County.

Guided by Mote scientists, educators and volunteers, students learned best fishing practices and environmental stewardship, toured Mote’s sustainable fish-farming research facilities and tested their fishing skills in the pond on site. There, some students caught their first fish.

“I saw my bobber go under and I reeled it in, and caught a sunfish,” said student Diana Escobedo. “I was excited and I was also scared because I had never fished before.”

How did it feel to catch her first fish? “Great!”

Student Najaden Holloway caught a catfish, and he reeled in some new knowledge too. “I learned how to cast, and I learned there’s a legal length for fish and you have to measure it before you know if you can take it.”