Fish Art and Writing Contest Winners Honored on Opening Day of Trout SeasonThe winning entrants in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Fish Art and Writing Contest were honored at the Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center in Oxford, Warren County, on the opening day of trout season, April 9. Division Director Martin McHugh distributed awards to the children, who also enjoyed a luncheon and a day of fishing with their families. Contest winners and their parents began their day at Pequest early with the opportunity to cast their lines in the Division’s Fishing Education Pond, which is stocked heavily with trout for educational programming. The fishing is quite good in the pond and everyone enjoyed themselves catching large numbers of trout. Children were allowed to keep one trout to bring home and had to return the rest to the pond. Division staff and volunteers were on hand to ensure a safe and enjoyable fishing experience as well as offer assistance when needed. After fishing, the winners of the contest received certificates and fishing equipment at an awards luncheon sponsored by The New Jersey Council of Trout Unlimited. After the luncheon, winners had the opportunity to take a personal tour of the Pequest Hatchery and learn how brook, brown and rainbow trout are raised for stocking in New Jersey’s publicly accessible waterways. The purpose of this annual contest is to encourage children in grades 4 through 8 to learn about New Jersey's fish species and the importance of natural resource conservation. More than 200 students from around the state submitted original artwork that depicted a New Jersey fish in its habitat. The essay portion of the contest was a short biography of the fish shown in the artwork. The winners' artwork is linked from the list below. A printable downloadable certificate is available for teachers whose students participated in the contest. The 2005 Fish Art and Writing Contest winners are as follows:
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