Biologist Jacob van de Sande has a strategy for saving the last known stocks of wild Atlantic salmon in U.S. rivers: Focus on Maine’s young, both the scales-covered and sneaker-wearing kind.

As manager of the Downeast Salmon Federation’s fish hatchery, van de Sande raises and releases 50,000 young salmon into Maine rivers each year hoping that at least a handful will beat the odds and return as adults.

But it is the schoolchildren who raise up to 200 salmon in their classrooms that could be the difference between wild salmon runs being another chapter in Maine’s history or part of the state’s future.

The key, according to van de Sande and other biologists, is not having more schools raise more salmon. Instead, it is helping students make the connection between salmon habitat and human habits.

The hatchery manager uses a simple exercise to illustrate how even youthful innocence can contribute to the total collapse of Maine’s historic salmon runs.

“I ask classes, ‘How many of you ride ATVs?’ And in Washington County, probably 80 percent ride ATVs,” van de Sande said recently. “And then I ask, ‘How many of you like riding your ATV through streams?'”

A substantial majority raise their hands again.

ATV tires tear up stream banks and bottoms, muddying the water. Sedimentation fills in the gravelly bottoms little salmon will need to survive, and it harms fish respiration, van de Sande tells the classes.

And the kicker: Riding an ATV through a stream – even one on your own land – is illegal in Maine.

“Whether or not they are going to change their behavior, I think those students will think next time they ride an ATV through a stream,” van de Sande said.

Maine’s rivers once ran so full with the fish nicknamed “The Leaper” that residents in some areas only needed a spear to snag dinner. But salmon stocks have been decimated by dams, industrial pollution, acid rain, overfishing in the oceans and widespread habitat destruction, to name a few factors.

Today, an estimated 2,000 adult Atlantic salmon are believed to return to Maine rivers to spawn each year, and those numbers are shaky at best.

In the multifront battle to save the salmon from extinction, hatcheries churn out millions of baby and juvenile salmon every year while governments, industry and private groups pay big bucks helping fish bypass dams on their way to or from the ocean.

But to build a stable and sustainable population, salmon need a suitable habitat in which to spawn and grow. That means convincing the public and businesses not to do the things that destroy salmon habitat.

And that’s where the biologists hope kids will make the difference.

Every year, students at dozens of schools throughout Maine – as well as dozens more in other New England states and Maritimes Canada – raise salmon in classroom aquariums for release into local rivers.

But according to teachers and biologists, it is the lessons on ecology and habitat health that accompany the hatchery program that may have a greater impact on the fate of the Atlantic salmon.

Peter Steenstra, education coordinator with the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in East Orland, is among those working to educate the public about watershed health – one classroom at a time.

On a recent morning, Steenstra stood on the banks of the West Branch of the Union River talking to a class of fifth and sixth graders about the new home of the 168 salmon fry the students raised from eggs.

Salmon fry need cool and clear water, a steady food supply and, perhaps most important, a rocky or gravelly river bottom for protection from predators and shelter from the current.

Salmon fry spend about two years in their host river, growing to about 6 or 8 inches long – what’s known as the smolt stage – before heeding their natural urge for saltwater. Those lucky few, if any, that return from the ocean to spawn several years later will measure about 30 inches long – a fact Steenstra illustrated by holding up a stuffed animal version of an adult salmon for the group to see.

Turning to the West Branch of the Union River, Steenstra pointed to the gravel and small rocks on the river bottom and explained that natural tannins found in nearby bogs – not industrial pollution – gave the water its dark, tea-like color.

The fry should find ample bugs and other edibles in the river, as evidenced by the swarm of black flies tormenting the group, he said. Unfortunately, any fry that reach smolt stage will have to circumnavigate three dams that stand between the fishes’ new home near Amherst and the Atlantic Ocean.

“There has been a lot of improvement in the river, but we have a long way to go,” Steenstra said.

Moments later, students were lined up with paper cups in hand to receive a few fry from a cooler. Each student then released their cupful of fry into the river and watched as the inch-long fish quickly camouflaged themselves against the dark bottom.

Tarsha Hastings, teacher of the Brooksville Elementary School class, said she incorporates the salmon-raising exercise into her curriculum whenever possible. A veteran with the program, Hastings said her students are excited to care for the fish.

“It’s great because it’s a real-life connection for these kids,” Hastings said.

Jason Herod, a sixth and seventh grade teacher at Perry Elementary School who works with van de Sande, said his students love to watch the fish hatch from their eggs. And while it is likely too early to tell whether the program will have any long-term impacts on his students, Herod said he believes it helps raise their consciousness levels about the impact that ATVs, litter and pollution have on their backyard river.

Besides, students always get a kick out of wading into the river with van de Sande to release their fry, he said.

“I love it,” Herod said. “It’s hands on. We are out there doing it.”

Steenstra, who works with more than three dozen schools, said he has noticed that both teachers and students today are more knowledgeable about watershed issues than when he began 11 years ago. As awareness increases, so will a sense of responsibility to the watershed, he said.

“This program is important because kids are learning about endangered species and they are learning about stewardship,” Steenstra said. “They are learning that if we can improve the habitat, we are also improving the quality of life for us.”

Altogether, the U.S. and Canadian programs – known as “Salmon in the Schools” and “Fish Friends” – reach more than 10,000 students a year.

Patrick Keliher, executive director of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, said programs such as Fish Friends are important parts of the outreach campaign for salmon organizations. By enlisting young people to help raise salmon, and then bringing them streamside to show them the effects of sedimentation and other pollutants, the programs are making a strong connection with the students, he said.

“I really think the program is invaluable,” Keliher said. “Nobody has the opportunity to see salmon in the wild anymore, so to bring them into a learning environment is great for kids.”

Kevin Miller can be reached at kmiller@bangordailynews.net.