Port Orchard’s FishPro, Inc., one of the nation’s premier firms offering fisheries and aquatic resources engineering, was recently awarded the Association of Conservation Engineers 2000 Award of Merit. The annual award recognizes outstanding projects that serve to protect, preserve, and restore natural resources nationwide. The company was honored for its design of Colorado’s Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility. The

The Colorado Division of Wildlife will use the facility specifically to promote the recovery and preservation of native fish, amphibians, and mollusks that will augment declining populations in nature. Production will focus on 10 to 12 species at any one time selected from 43 species listed by the State of Colorado as threatened, endangered, or of special concern.

The facility’s primary functions are refuge, augmentation, and broodstock holding. A secondary function will be research because little is known about the life cycles of the species. The site, located near Alamosa in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, was chosen in large part due to the availability of adjudicated ground water supplies with both warm and cool water temperatures. FishPro provided the conceptual design, final design, and assistance during construction and start-up of the $6 million facility.

The project was selected for the award on the basis of natural resource and environmental considerations, originality, innovation, and project complexity.

FishPro, with offices located in Washington, Oregon, and Illinois, has completed fisheries related projects in 44 states and provinces for government, tribes, and private industry over the past 20 years.