Portugal trout hatchery rewilds fish before river release

At the Posto Aquícola de Campelo, in Figueiró dos Vinhos, fish are raised among pebbles, roots and shelters, and fed live prey to prepare them for life in the wild, largely avoiding human contact. The approach follows years of trout releases by the ICNF (Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas) into Portuguese rivers, which genetic monitoring showed largely failed: few fish reached adulthood or reproduced after being raised in conventional captivity. The Campelo facility aims to reverse that pattern by training fish to behave like wild ones before reintroduction.