Thursday April 18, 2013
Chico News & Review-
by Tom Gascoyne
On the corner of Fourth and Wall streets in downtown Chico sits an innocuous-looking storefront housing a business that monitors fish populations, species and habitat in places ranging from Big Chico Creek to the Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia.
Chico State grad Doug Demko created FISHBIO six years ago in the Stanislaus County town of Oakdale. He opened a Chico office about a year ago, he said, in part because it’s easier to hire and bring people to Chico than to Oakdale.
The company’s website describes FISHBIO as “a dedicated group of research scientists, engineers, and technicians that specialize in counting, tracking, and analyzing trends in fish and wildlife populations throughout the world. Our expert staff, technical capacity, and state-of-the-art equipment make us trailblazers in aquatic research.”
Demko is an engaging fellow who is not shy about sharing what he knows and what his company does.
Like so many others in this town, he came to Chico to attend college and never really left, though he spends most of his time these days on the road. “FISHBIO started six years ago, but I’ve been on the road probably 70 to 80 percent of the time,” he said during a recent interview in his office.
“A year ago we decided we should open an office in Chico. We have about 45 employees now and a big shop on a couple of acres in Oakdale that puts us right in the heart of the San Joaquin basin and near the Bay Delta.”