The Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources and Recovery Center is located within the Pecos River Valley in Dexter, New Mexico. The center is dedicated to scientifically based protection, restoration, and recovery of aquatic species protected under the Endangered Species Act in the Southwest. It consists of three major programs: Captive Propagation and Augmentation (Fish Culture), Applied Research, and Aquatic Animal Health. Approximately 1 million fish from 14 different threatened and endangered fish species are currently supported.

About Us

The Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources and Recovery Center is located within the Pecos River Valley in Dexter, New Mexico. The center is dedicated to scientifically based protection, restoration, and recovery of aquatic species protected under the Endangered Species Act in the Southwest. It consists of three major programs: Captive Propagation and Augmentation (Fish Culture), Applied Research, and Aquatic Animal Health. Approximately 1 million fish from 14 different threatened and endangered fish species are currently supported. 

What We Do

The Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources and Recovery Center is one of the largest facilities in the nation entirely dedicated to holding, studying, culturing, and distributing as many as 20 federally listed endangered species. Annual commitments for the facility range from short- to long-term culture of extremely rare fish (some of which are the sole remaining individuals for the species) for five major threatened and endangered species Restoration and Recovery Programs.  

The Aquatic Animal Health and Applied Research programs work to ensure the knowledge needed to reduce disease, improve survival, and keep adaptive potential. This work supports our Fish culture program and other facilities and their species.  

Our Species

Currently Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources and Recovery Center maintains 14 warmwater fish species; however, five species account for most of our annual propagation and augmentation program commitments. The other species are either spawned intermittently or only maintained as refuge populations (not spawned).  

Latest News

Ice chests containing woundfin with aerators inside plane mid flight.
Endangered Species Act
A Flight for Woundfin
On the morning of July 18, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources and Recovery Center (SNARRC) in Dexter, New Mexico, received a welcomed addition to the facility with the arrival of 559 wild federally endangered woundfin. The fish arrived on a flight from...
Colorado pikeminnow at the bottom of streambed surrounded by rocks.
Facility Improvements at the Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources & Recovery Center
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for Facility Improvements at the Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources...
A biologists uses a fine paintbrush to sort through sand and holds a petri dish with tiny snails.
Endangered Species Act
Biologists Spring Into Action to Save Springsnails
Over the Summer of 2023, New Mexico’s typical monsoon rains failed to arrive, threatening the existence of native aquatic species that have managed to eke out a niche in this desert southwest state. With a creek section quickly drying out, biologists carefully collected endangered springsnails to...
Extreme close-up of a tiny brown snail.
Endangered Species Act
How a River Was Moved to Save Tiny Snails
Take a pen and look at the tip and try to bring into focus the ball point that rolls and puts ink onto paper. It’s tiny, right? That’s what it’s like to look at some springsnail species. If you live in the western U.S. and enjoy spring-influenced wetlands, chances are you’ve seen them, even if you...
A Service Veterinarian examines the health of juvenile salmon at Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery
A Rx for Conservation
The agency's Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership program collects data and conducts research to aid in the Food and Drug Administration’s aquatic drug approval process. It is the only program in the United States which is dedicated to obtaining safe and effective medications to improve fish...
A profile view of a green-colored, spotted fish held with two hands.
Endangered Species Act
Service Announces Availability of Final Revised Recovery Plan for Gila Trout
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is announcing the availability of a final revised recovery plan for the Gila trout, a species of trout found in small, high mountain streams in New Mexico and Arizona. The final recovery plan includes specific criteria for determining when Gila trout can...
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