Educational Programs

2025 CART Salmon & Trout Team

A group of six people standing outdoors near a creek, smiling at the camera. They are surrounded by trees and wearing casual clothing. The sky is cloudy.

Fresno and Clovis high school Salmon and Trout Team students Colton, Cedar, Deven and Kelsie we mentored at CART (Center for Advanced Research and Technology), spent a day on the San Joaquin River releasing the baby Chinook salmon they hatched out and grew in their classroom aquarium. On another day, they visited the new Salmon Conservation and Research Facility (SCARF) at the San Joaquin Hatchery just downstream from Friant Dam, and on still another day, we traveled to the Kings River near the base of Pine Flat Dam to to release baby rainbow trout they also raised in a classroom aquarium from eggs. Whew!

Through this program, students learn what it takes to provide the right conditions for salmonids to live out their complete life cycles in freshwater or make the long journey to the Pacific Ocean to grow even larger before returning to their natal streams.

Our students learn by doing and participating in a hands-on experience that teaches them what it’s like to work as a biologist at a working hatchery.

Over the years, with your support, we have been able to expand this program and we thank you!

(Click on any image to see a larger version)

Person in a brown jacket holds a small aquarium with rocks and a turtle inside. They stand in an office or classroom with a whiteboard behind them, near a desk and a blue bucket.
Thank you Mr. Patton!

A group of people in a lab room gathers around a man demonstrating something in a tank filled with rocks. There are colorful containers and lab equipment on the table. Walls have charts and a whiteboard.

Two people interact with an aquarium filled with rocks and water. One is holding a phone, and the other is using a net to clean the tank. A blue lid is on the ground nearby. A whiteboard is visible in the background.

Two people in a room with various equipment. One person is placing something into an aquarium filled with rocks. The other person, with a backpack and a bag, is holding a blue bucket. Shelves and a whiteboard are visible in the background.

Person holding a blue plastic bucket, partially submerged in murky water, near the shore. The person's sleeves are rolled up, and the bucket is tilted, allowing water to flow inside.

Four people standing in a shallow creek, wearing waders. One person is holding a blue bucket, looking into the water. Trees and plants are visible in the background. The ground is covered with leaves.

A group of people stands near a white van parked on a sunny dirt road, surrounded by trees and greenery under a clear blue sky.

Five people walk together outdoors on a sunny day, surrounded by trees. One person wears fishing waders, another wears a black hoodie with a design, and the others are in casual clothes, chatting as they walk on a dirt path.

A young woman holding a blue Lowe’s bucket stands on rocky ground near a stream, while an older man in a dark jacket stands beside her. There is greenery and hills in the background on a sunny day.

Several people stand around large circular tanks inside a metal building, examining the tanks and interacting with each other. The space appears to be a research facility or aquaculture lab.

A dry, rocky riverbed with scattered stones and sparse vegetation, surrounded by green hills under a clear blue sky.