The winning entrants in the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife's 2009 Native 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 11.

Contest winners and their families 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. 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 native fish species and the importance of natural resource conservation. More than 250 students from around the state submitted original artwork that depicted a native New Jersey fish in its habitat. This year, students were asked to research a native fish and write a short story depicting one year in the life of that fish.

Winning artwork can be viewed by clicking on each winner's name. The 2009 Fish Art and Writing Contest winners are as follows:

NAME	CITY	PLACE	GRADE
Alison Sorkenn	River Edge	1st	4th
Cameron Brignola	River Edge	2nd	4th
Joseph Hernandez	Great Meadows	1st	5th
Sahaj Garg	Bridgewater	2nd	5th
Alyssa Casanova	Mullica Hill	1st	6th
Brooke Attardi	Long Branch	2nd	6th
Steven DiModica	Wantage	1st	7th
Nicole Helewa	Sussex	2nd	7th
Jonathan Spriggs	Cape May Court House	1st	8th
Daisy Zhang	Edison	2nd	8th