News Release Archive

Reclamation Awards $1.69 Million Contract to Biomark, Inc. for Supplies Used in Endangered Fish Recovery Program Efforts

Media Contact: Barry Wirth, 801-524-3774, 02/09/2006 15:01
Doug Hendrix, 801-524-3837, dhendrix@uc.usbr.gov

For Release: February 09, 2006

Salt Lake City, UT - The Bureau of Reclamation announced today that it has awarded a contract worth up to $1.69 million to Biomark, Inc., for purchase of PIT tags and readers that are used for tracking endangered fish in both the San Juan and Upper Colorado River Basins. The Upper Colorado Recovery Implementation Program and San Juan Basin Recovery Implementation Program have been using PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags to individually mark endangered fish for over 10 years.

"The Upper Colorado Recovery Implementation Program and the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program are national models of cost-effective, public-private partnerships working together to recover endangered species while water development continues in compliance with Federal and State laws," said Reclamation Commissioner John W. Keys, III. "The programs' efforts will help ensure that the humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, and razorback sucker remain an important part of the modern West."

The recovery programs are engaged in the often difficult, day-to-day work of recovering endangered species in the Upper Colorado River Basin while allowing water development to proceed. They provide Endangered Species Act compliance for more than 800 water projects. The Upper Colorado program has become a national model for recovering endangered species while addressing the demand for water development to support growing western communities.

As part of the recovery efforts, endangered fish are propagated and stocked within the river San Juan and Upper Colorado River basins. Prior to stocking, these fish are implanted with individual and unique PIT tags for tracking purposes. Additionally, as populations of wild native fish are captured during research trips, they also are marked with PIT tags in order to facilitate the use of estimators for population size and status. PIT tags contain unique alphanumeric codes that are read when tagged fish are in close proximity to specialized antennae.

The PIT tags are manufactured in Spain and shipped to Biomark, Inc., in Boise, Idaho. PIT tags are then delivered to recovery program offices in Grand Junction, Colo., and other locations in the Western United States.

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