Peter Kallin, center, interim CEO of 7 Lakes Alliance in the Belgrade Lakes region, gives a lesson Monday to ecology and biology students at Lawrence High School in Fairfield on the life cycle of salmon at the Sandy River beach area at the Fairbanks ballfield in Farmington. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

FARMINGTON — Owen Lee of Albion picked up a cup of baby salmon Monday and counted them before adding a bit of water from the Sandy River and submerging the cup in the river to release them.

The senior at Lawrence High School in Fairfield was one of many students in Eric Brown’s ecology or biology classes taking part in the release by the 7 Lakes Alliance in the Belgrade area.

Some of the 200 salmon still had egg sacks attached, but most were in the fry stage when they are five to 10 weeks old and can swim and eat macroinvertebrates.

Peter Kallin, interim CEO of 7 Lakes Alliance in the Belgrade area, hands a cup of small salmon Monday to Alyssa Jarvis of Clinton to be released into the Sandy River in Farmington. The sophomore at Lawrence High School in Fairfield was among students in Eric Brown’s ecology and biology classes taking part in the release. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Peter Kallin, interim CEO of 7 Lakes Alliance, gave students a lesson in the life stages of salmon — from eggs to adults. He also explained how to acclimate the fish to the water.

“The most important thing is not to shock the fish,” he said.

Sharon Mann, invasive aquatic program director for 7 Lakes Alliance, used a plastic cup to continue to add river water slowly to the large bucket to acclimate the fish.

“I go fishing all of the time,” Lee said as he introduced the fry to the water. He said he recently caught  and released 40 bass in Lovejoy Pond near his home.

The water temperature  — 59 degrees , which is nine more than the minimum required — and acidity are important, Kallin said, adding that the Sandy River is good for salmon.

Owen Lee of Albion, a senior at Lawrence High School in Fairfield, goes to acclimate and then release salmon fry on Monday into the Sandy River in Farmington at the beach area of Fairbanks Baseball Field. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

The salmon eggs were from the Green Lake National Fish Hatchery in Ellsworth, he said.  The eggs hatched in November and went to the 7 Lakes Alliance in February.

When the eggs hatch they have to be covered in clean gravel, Kallin told students. The fish lie on their sides and then move to swim vertically as they grow.

“The fish are very vulnerable to predators and they also have to figure out something to eat,” Kallin said.

“It is either eat or die. It is not an easy life,” he said.  “They eat black fly larvae and mosquito larvae.”

The fish will stay in the river area for about two years before they move on, some spending time in the ocean before returning.

Kallin said they smell the changes and taste and smell the water, sniffing for the Kennebec and Sandy rivers. Once they have spawned, they can come back every year.