Who said the last week of the school year is boring! The students at Chatsworth Island Public School certainly don’t agree! In conjunction with the Department of Primary Industries and Fish Care over 40 students from Chatsworth Island Public School participated in the “ Get Hooked” fishing program at Whiting Beach in Yamba. In the lead up to the excursion the students completed a mini unit of work in the classroom on sustainability, environmentally friendly fishing practices and water safety with all resources supplied free of charge by the DPI. On the day, the students participated in workshops including, fish recognition, legal size and bag limits, casting techniques, safety, catch and release methods and knot tying before heading out onto Whiting Beach to put their newly acquired skills into practise. Catches included bream, whiting, flounder, flathead and even blue swimmer crabs. A new record was also set with a flathead weighing more than two kilograms landed by one of the students. School Principal Greg Speirs said, “ This is the third year we have participated in the program and it just gets better every year. Not only do the students receive the opportunity to utilise and enjoy the amazing Clarence River, they learn environmentally friendly fishing practices such as bag limits, using circle hooks and the importance of catch and release. All resources including fishing rods and bait are supplied by the Department of Primary Industries and the program also allows our school to implement one of our strategic directions which is sustainability. We must thank the crew from the Department of Primary Industries, the awesome Fish Care volunteers and the NSW Fisheries officers for a fantastic day.” To top off a great day each and every student received a goody bag with a tackle box, lures, circle hooks, posters and stickers to take home.