Fishy game comes to schools

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In the interior of British Columbia in late fall, sunlight flashes off the backs of aged salmon as they fight their way upstream to spawn. The World Fisheries Trust and BC Hydro have teamed up to bring the fight of the salmon into schools across the province.

The trust created Up the Creek: The Salmon Survival Game to help school children learn about salmon in a creative way. BC Hydro realized the benefits of the game and purchased 150 and distributed them to all 123 First Nations schools in the province.

"We want to be able to help educate First Nations students, who, of course, have a very long history with salmon, of what they can do to help save salmon," said Elisha Odowichuk of BC Hydro.

The corporation has a vested interest in salmon, helping to create and rehabilitate salmon habitats wherever it can, said Odowichuk.

"Basically, the goal of the game is to complete the life cycle of a salmon run without going extinct," said Odowichuk.

To complete the cycle, the playing piece must be moved from the spawning bed, down the river, into the open ocean, back up the river and back to the same spawning bed.

"The game has a lot of different aspects to it, so it's not just biology. [Players] learn the basics of the salmon life cycle, but they also learn about the social and economic issues," said game developer Carmen Ross, director of field operations at the World Fisheries Trust.

Players learn what affects salmon adversely and what environmentally responsible things can be done to guard against extinction through the use of event and survival cards.

The events are things like human impact, industrial impact, impact from Mother Nature, predatation and fishing, and the survival cards contain solutions to the problems. Each card has a small lesson at the bottom, explaining the significance of the event in a real salmon's life.

Staff at the World Fisheries Trust, headed by Ross and president Brian Harvey, started working at the game during the slow time one winter. They hired game designer Clint Lungren, illustrator Nelson Dewey, and a graphic designer from Image Craft Studios to give the product its flare.

The first 2,000 copies were ready for eager young folk in 1998.

The B.C. Teachers Federation has rated the game among the top 10 lesson aids and has made it available in their catalogue (a teacher's guide is included with the game). It can also be purchased at the Vancouver Aquarium, the British Columbia Museum and other locations.

"You can play it at quite a complex level but you can also simplify it for the younger kids," said Ross, adding that Up the Creek is appropriate for ages eight to adult.