THERE’S something fishy going on in a classroom on the North York Moors - quite literally.

Youngsters at the community primary school in Castleton are learning all about river ecology and the lifecycle of salmon.

As part of it a small fish hatchery tank has been installed in the school and salmon eggs, taken from River Esk salmon, were introduced at the start of April.

The eggs have now hatched and the babies will be monitored and looked after by the children as they grow into small salmon.

Then, later this year, the children will help release the fish back into the Esk.

The project has been organised by the National Park Authority in partnership with the company Jetset Trout in the Classroom UK and the Environment Agency.

As well as learning about salmon, the children are also finding out about what is being done to improve conditions in the river for the threatened freshwater pearl mussel which depends on salmon and trout as hosts for its larvae.

The park’s education manager Sue Schulze said: "The fish hatchery is a fantastic teaching resource and we hope to work our way downstream and install it in a different school in the Esk Valley each year.

"It provides a great opportunity to teach children about wildlife that they might not otherwise see and the need to care for the environment."

School head Jane Douglass (CORRECT) added: "The children - and parents - have been very excited about the salmon eggs and were thrilled to see them starting to hatch.

"They are looking forward to seeing them grow, and to releasing them into our local river."