SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Sources Sought - Pacific Billfish Biological and Stock Assessment Support
- Notice Date
- 8/22/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), PIFSC, 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96818, United States
- ZIP Code
- 96818
- Solicitation Number
- NFFR7400-14-04395
- Archive Date
- 9/17/2014
- Point of Contact
- STEPHANIE M. GARNETT, Phone: (808) 725-5356
- E-Mail Address
-
STEPHANIE.M.GARNETT@NOAA.GOV
(STEPHANIE.M.GARNETT@NOAA.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT. IT IS NOT A SOLICITATION, NOR DOES IT GUARANTEE A SOLICITATION WILL BE ISSUED. REQUESTS FOR A SOLICITATION WILL NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE. Any information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Announcement is strictly voluntary. The Government will neither award a contract solely based on this notice, nor pay for any information submitted by respondents. This notice is a request by the Government to collect information from interested vendors for the purpose of market research. Failing to provide a response to this announcement will not prohibit/exclude an interested vendor from participating in a future solicitation. The Government is looking for vendors who can perform the following requirements: A. Overview The contractor should be an established billfish scientist and will conduct life history and fisheries research in support of North Pacific billfish stock assessments. The research is organized into two collaborative research projects. Project 1 will focus on the estimation of life history parameters and collection of size data for key billfish species (Pacific blue marlin, North Pacific striped marlin, sailfish, and wahoo) caught in Taiwanese longline and set net fisheries. The size data will be merged with existing logbook and observer data from Taiwanese longline and set net fisheries to estimate fishery-specific size-at-catch frequency distributions for input into stock assessments. Project 2 will be a comparative study between fleets harvesting North Pacific striped marlin in the Pacific Ocean. The research projects, associated tasks and budget are specified in greater detail below. B. Statement of Work 1. Collaborative Life History Parameter Estimation This is a collaborative project between scientists from NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Research Institute for Far Seas Fisheries (NRIFSF), National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU), Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU) and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). The goal of this procurement is to collect size-at-catch data and biological samples from Pacific blue marlin, North Pacific striped marlin, sailfish, and wahoo landed in Taiwan to support the completion of billfish stock assessments in the Pacific Ocean. North Pacific striped marlin and Pacific blue marlin stock assessments are scheduled for 2015 and 2016, respectively. Collaborators will include Kotaro Yokawa (NRIFSF), Gerard DiNardo (PIFSC), Robert Humphreys (PIFSC), Nan-Jay Su (NTOU), and Michael Hinton (IATTC). Other collaborators may be identified as the research proceeds. The contractor will conduct size-at-catch sampling of Pacific blue marlin, North Pacific striped marlin, sailfish and wahoo landed by Taiwanese longline fleets and set net fishery at major billfish ports in Taiwan. Hard parts (e.g., fin ray spines) and reproductive material (gonads) will also be collected from landed blue marlin, striped marlin, sailfish and wahoo to facilitate the estimation of life history parameters, including age and growth and age-at-maturity. To the extent possible size-at-catch data will be combined with Taiwanese logbook and observer data to develop fishery-specific size-at-catch frequency distributions. Estimated life history parameters will be combined with existing data to reduce uncertainty in existing age-length keys and maturity ogives. The contractor will assist with the compilation of all available catch, effort and size-at-catch data. Datasets will include (1) Japanese longline data from logbooks, (2) length frequency data from Japanese research and training vessels, (3) Hawaii longline data from logbooks and associated length frequency data, (4) Taiwan longline data from logbooks and associated length frequency data, and (5) other longline fleets as necessary. The contractor will conduct comparative analyses to determine fleet specific differences and assess the feasibility of substitution of data between fleets. These analyses, combined with fleet-specific fisheries operational data, will also be used to estimate selectivity patterns between fleets, and incorporated into the 2015 North Pacific striped marlin stock assessment. C. Deliverables All work will be completed at the successful vendor's institution. An initial meeting with collaborators to discuss data availability and port sampling design will be convened shortly after the start of the purchase order. Quarterly progress reports will be submitted to NOAA during the purchase order period of performance and progress reports presented at intercessional ISC Billfish Working Group Workshops. A final report will be presented at the July 2015 ISC Billfish Working Group Workshop at the conclusion of the purchase order. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) is 541990 with a size standard of $14.0 million. Interested Contractors are requested to provide the following information in response to this Sources Sought Announcement: 1) A statement that you believe your firm has the capability to meet all these requirements and perform these services. 2) Your firm's DUNS number & CAGE code; 3) Your firm's SBA certified small business concern status. Specifically identify if your firm is HUBZone-certified, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, or in the SBA's 8(a) program. If your firm is not small, please state that it is a large business. 4) A brief description of your firm's recent past experience (within past 3 years) performing similar services. The information provided in response to this announcement is limited to five pages or less. All information shall be provided free of charge to the Government. The Government will not return any data provided in response to this announcement. This request for information does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations. Responses shall be provided to Contract Specialist, Stephanie Garnett via email at Stephanie.M.Garnett@noaa.gov no later than 10:00 AM (Hawaii Time) on Tuesday, September 2, 2014.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/WRAD/NFFR7400-14-04395/listing.html)
- Record
- SN03476327-W 20140824/140822234600-215024fcfc9052a834e5bcd8d611a6a7 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |