Since the late 1980s, Digital Angel has worked with Portland-based BPA and the federal Columbia and Snake River hydroelectric projects to develop, manufacture and install implantable PIT systems for monitoring the native salmon population, representing a vital resource to the local community. The species’ vulnerability to pollution, weather changes and over-fishing makes BPA’s monitoring program a crucial element in their survival. Digital Angel’s technology allows the BPA to effectively monitor the local salmon populations as they migrate through a river system that encompasses an elaborate network of dams and contributories.

The money breaks down like this: one award, for $760,000, is for the initial development phase of a large antenna reader system for the Bonneville Dam, covering a nine-month period beginning July 1, 2008. The budget for this multi-phase project has a total of $2.5 million in funding, covering an estimated total 18-month period. The later phases of this project have not yet been awarded. The multiplex reader project award, for $125,000, is for reader systems for river applications.