National TV show for kids films local trout release project

Graduate Molly McKinney, host of the TV series, “AquaKids,” brought her crew to Fredonia to join area youth and volunteers from a fly-fishing program to release 200 brook trout into Canadaway Creek recently. Local children sold fishing flies they created to buy the trout.

The activities required two days of work and filming and will result in an upcoming Aqua Kids episode that highlights the conservation efforts of the Dunkirk-Fredonia chapter of SAREP (Sportfishing and Aquatic Resource Educational Program). SAREP, which is directed by SUNY Fredonia Professor Alberto Rey and local middle school teacher John Straight, partnered to help the "AquaKids" team produce the episode.

Brook trout had been extinct in this region for over 100 years until a successful reintroduction effort began.

Aqua Kids is a TV show seen in 85 percent of markets across the U.S. It is dedicated to educating children about the conservation of marine environments and the animals that inhabit them. In its seventh year of existence, it targets children ages 7 to 14.

The 21-year-old McKinney, a Spring 2008 graduate of Fredonia’s communication department, has been involved with this show since age 13 and traveled throughout the U.S., Central America and the Caribbean on filming excursions. Since coming to Fredonia she has worked with the biology and communication departments to continue her work with "AquaKids."

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