By matching product lines to trends in aquaculture and fish conservation, one local manufacturer is reeling in profits and expanding their workforce.
Located in Salmon Creek, Smith-Root Inc. has hired ten new employees over the last two years, and has increased their revenue 57 percent over the last four years, according to Sean Janson, SRI's marketing manager.
Founded more than 40 years ago, the company originally focused on manufacturing backpack electro-fisher equipment, which enables natural resource managers and scientists to collect fish to study fish populations. The company also builds electro-fisher boats at their 26,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
"SRI is one of those companies you know the day you get out of fish school," said Shane Scott, a consulting fishery biologist who helps Smith-Root with new product development processes.
New Markets, New Revenues
About seven years ago, the company began to branch out into electro-anesthesia and electric barrier systems. These products are a direct response, said Janson, to increasing attention in the industry to invasive species and more sustainable fish management practices.
For example, Smith-Root landed a multi-million dollar contract to build an electric barrier on the South Chicago Canal, to prevent Asian carp in the Mississippi River from migrating into Lake Michigan, where they damage the ecosystem. Currently, the company is building a second barrier in the same area, and Janson said this would be an ongoing project for several years and has fueled company hiring.
In 2009, SRI was part of a project at the Bonneville Dam, studying how an electric barrier against sea lions affected the downstream passage of salmon. Janson said the firm's barriers have potential uses against several other species of mammals, including manatees and seals.
Smith-Root's electro-anesthesia (EA) units emit small amounts of carefully controlled, pulsed electricity to immobilize fish for handling and transport. The devices come with few of the disadvantages associated with older techniques, such as chemicals, carbon dioxide, or blunt instruments. Several local fisheries have installed SRI EA units, including the Carson and Little White Salmon National Fish Hatcheries.
Dr. John Hitron, manager of the Carson National Fish Hatchery, has first-hand experience with EA. He said it succeeds in avoiding long holding periods, water disposal issues, labor-intensive techniques and damage to fish. In his 40-plus years of working in the fishing industry, Hitron called the EA approach to stunning fish "the greatest thing since sliced bread."
"Any hatchery that doesn't have one should get one," said Hitron.
Scott said he sees many potential applications of Smith-Root's unique harnessing of electricity and water, such as deterring sharks in swimming areas and keeping fish away from hydroelectric turbines and water intakes.
"It's an amazing technology that integrates electricity with a biological organism," said Scott.
The Future is Electric
Janson said the new barrier and EA divisions supply nearly 50 percent of Smith-Root's revenue. He said the company is taking these new dollars and investing them in new product development, scientific research and project management. Janson also said they have improved production processes to lower costs, and are looking overseas for expansion. SRI currently has distributors in Australia and Japan, and is negotiating with one in Ireland to handle the European market.
"The growth potential for electric barriers and anesthesia is just immense," said Janson.
