SOLICITATION NOTICE
V -- Longline Charter for Pacific Cod
- Notice Date
- 7/14/2010
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 532411
— Commercial Air, Rail, and Water Transportation Equipment Rental and Leasing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Western Region Acquisition Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, Northeast, Seattle, Washington, 98115-6349
- ZIP Code
- 98115-6349
- Solicitation Number
- AB133F-10-RP-0136
- Point of Contact
- Mona M. Ash, Phone: 206-526-6384
- E-Mail Address
-
mona.m.ash@noaa.gov
(mona.m.ash@noaa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NOTICE: THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE. NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) has a requirement to conduct two research cruises for Pacific Cod using a single chartered fishing vessel in September 2010 and February 2011 to tag and release cod and to collect catch data and biological data on cod and incidental species in the eastern Bering Sea. In lieu of compensation, the Pacific cod catch shall be retained by the charter vessel. The purpose of the first cruise is to tag and release Pacific cod. This cruise will be called the "Release Cruise". The Release Cruise will occur at approximately the same time as the 2010 B-Season for Pacific cod longline fishing in the Bering Sea. The cruise will begin on or about September 1, 2010. The cruise will start and end in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The cruise will consist of five (5) or fewer days in port at the beginning to mobilize the scientific operations aboard the vessel, thirty-five to forty-five (35 to 45) fishing days in the eastern Bering Sea, as necessary to meet sample size requirements, one (1) port day (to be scheduled during the fishing period), and three (3) or fewer days in port at the end to demobilize the vessel. The cruise will be broken into two legs, with a port day to occur on or about October 15, 2010 for purposes of exchanging scientific personnel and off-loading the catch (if necessary). The port of exchange will be on St. Paul Island in the Priblof Islands. The purpose of the second cruise is to provide fisheries independent data on tag recovery rates. This cruise will be called the "Recovery Cruise". The Recovery Cruise will begin on or about February 15, 2011. The Recovery Cruise will start and end in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The cruise will consist of five (5) or fewer days in port at the beginning to mobilize the vessel, forty to fifty (40 - 50) fishing days in the eastern Bering Sea, as necessary to meet sample size requirements, one (1) port day (to be scheduled during the fishing period), and three (3) or fewer days in port at the end to demobilize the vessel. The cruise will be broken into two legs, with a port day to occur on or about April 15, 2011 for purposes of exchanging scientific personnel and off-loading the catch (if necessary). The port of exchange will be on St. Paul Island in the Priblof Islands. Note that the mobilization and demobilization periods stated above are maximum time periods. Mobilization and demobilization can be accomplished in less time. In both cruises, fishing will occur every day unless it is a scheduled port day or fishing is cancelled due to weather conditions. Each fishing day the vessel shall set as much of its own longline gear as possible, given time and research fishing constraints. The vessel crew shall determine the attributes of an ideal unit of fishing gear, that is called the "standard gear" or the "standard gear unit". The scientific party will monitor all the units of gear for consistency and adherence to standards, ensuring that each unit of gear is as consistent as possible for research needs. In both cruises, there will be two modes of research fishing. In both modes, Pacific cod are to be tagged and released with the greatest possible efficiency. However, in the first mode, the catches at each of thirty (30) stations will be used to estimate the geographic distribution cod. Consequently, the locations of the survey stations must be randomly selected and the vessel's fishing gear and fishing protocols must adhere closely to standards. The contractor shall determine the best fishing protocols, contingent upon approval by the Field Party Chief. Catch rate estimation and comparison will be only among strata and stations within a cruise. This mode of research fishing shall be called "Survey Fishing" or "Survey Mode". The second mode of research fishing is for maximizing the number of tagged cod that are released as well as assuring that tagged fish are released near high concentrations of Pacific cod. In this mode, station location will be determined by the skipper of the vessel, in consultation with the Field Party Chief. Total catch expectations are based on the number of cod that must be tagged and released (in the Release Cruise) and the number of cod that must be examined for tags independently of commercial fisheries (in the Recovery Cruise). In the Release Cruise we calculate that we must catch 500 metric tons (round weight) to achieve a more optimal number of tagged and released cod. In the Recovery Cruise we calculate that we must catch 1000 metric tons (round weight) to achieve a more optimal number of cod to be examined for tags. VESSEL REQUIREMENTS for longline operations: 1. Minimum registered length 41.1 m (135 ft), although the preferred vessel registered length is 45.7 m (150 ft) or greater. 2. Minimum main engine continuous horsepower sufficient to permit a cruising speed of 18.5 km/hr (10 kts) in a moderate sea state. 3. Able to accommodate a field party of 8, including 4 contract scientists provided by the vessel. 4. The vessel must have an endurance capability for operating and fishing for a minimum of 45 consecutive days including running to and from stations. 5. The Contractor shall furnish cod longline gear that is completely rigged and ready to fish. Gear to be provided by the vessel shall include, but not be limited to the following: tackle and machinery necessary for setting and retrieving all components of the longline fishing system, flag-and-buoy arrays, buoy line, anchors, running line, and ground line with baited hooks. An auto baiting system is preferred. The baiting system must consistently bait 95% or more of the hooks. If the baiting rate falls below 95% then fishing operations shall cease until the baiting system has been brought to the required efficiency by the vessel's engineering department. Hook size, hook spacing, and all other attributes of the tackle shall be determined by the contractor. Each unit of gear (e.g. magazine, rack, skate, etc) shall have the same ground line material and length, the same tackle fixing hooks to ground line, the same hook size, the same hook spacing, and the same number of hooks. Units of gear that vary by more than two percent (2%) from the number of hooks specified by the contractor shall not be deployed. 6. The Contractor shall furnish bait for each cruise. Each hook shall be baited with chopped squid in an amount per hook that is appropriate to the auto-baiting machinery. The bait shall be East Coast or North Atlantic squid (Illex illecebrosus), 2-3 count per lb or larger; Loligo or market squid is not acceptable. The general commercial designation is brown color, fit for human consumption (used as an index of freshness), and 100-200 grams per squid. The head and legs will not be used for bait, only the mantle and viscera. The mantle length should be 15-23 cm (6-9 in) long. The baiting system must consistently bait 95% or more of the hooks. If the baiting rate falls below 95% then fishing operations shall cease until the baiting system has been brought to the required efficiency by the vessel's engineering department. At the beginning of each cruise, the vessel shall be supplied with a single lot of bait sufficient to last the duration of that cruise. Changes in bait characteristics during the course of the cruise will render catch rates incomparable from station to station. Calculation of the required amount of bait depends on the baiting characteristics of the vessel's fishing gear and the expected amount of fishing in a research cruise (see note below on the expected amount of fishing). 7. The vessel shall provide freezer storage, exclusive of that for ship stores, sufficient to store at least 272 mt (600,000 lb) of dressed and frozen fish. If more cod are caught than can be carried in the vessel's freezer storage then a mid-cruise off-load can be negotiated between the Government and the contractor. 8. Contract Scientific Personnel a. The Contractor shall provide at least four (4) trained biologists to conduct standard survey data collection operations that shall perform 1) catch tallying of individual hooks; 2) length and sex sampling of catch; 3) recording and editing data in appropriate forms and computer files. b. Personnel must receive training in the above operations by Government survey scientists prior to participation in the survey. c. Personnel shall be employed by a qualified scientific firm or institute engaged in marine fisheries research, or in providing scientific personnel. 9. The vessel and officer licensing requirements shall be sufficient to permit the chartered vessel to carry eight (8) personnel in the field party (both male and female). EXPECTED AMOUNT OF FISHING Total catch requirements have been determined based on the optimal numbers of cod required for mark-recapture estimation (given practical constraints such as vessel time, numbers of research scientists required, and windows of opportunity based on seasonality and fishing periods). For the Release Cruise, a minimum of 500 metric tons (round weight) of Pacific cod must be caught. For the Recovery Cruise, a minimum of 1000 metric tons (round weight) of Pacific cod must be caught. Because catch rates are uncertain under research fishing protocols, the number of days required to achieve these catches cannot be guaranteed. We calculate that the Release Cruise will require between 35 and 45 days of actual fishing, excluding days lost to poor weather or mechanical breakdown and excluding days required for mobilization and demobilization. We calculate that the Recovery Cruise (the winter cruise) will require between 40 and 50 days of actual fishing, excluding days lost to poor weather or mechanical breakdown and excluding days required for mobilization and demobilization. We have tried to make these conservative estimates and it may be that fewer fishing days will be required to achieve the catch goals. In each cruise there will be two research modes, Survey Mode and Tagging Mode. If the catch goals for each stratum have not been met while fishing in Survey Mode, then the vessel will switch to Tagging Mode to assure a more optimal number of cod are tagged (in the Release Cruise) or examined for tags (in the Recovery Cruise). During the Survey Mode, the vessel must visit each of 30 stations randomly selected across the eastern Bering Sea. One day of fishing will be done at each of the thirty survey stations. If foul weather prevents fishing at a particular survey station then fishing operations shall cease until conditions permit their resumption and that station can be sampled. Each survey station will be fished on a 24 hour cycle, including running time from the previous station, which may be as much as 10 hours for the 10 stations in the strata with lower sampling density. Based on these constraints the offeror can expect the chartered vessel to be able to run about half the gear that would be deployed during open access fishing. If a vessel normally fishes 40,000 hooks per day then it will likely average 20,000 hooks per day during the research fishing. If a vessel normally fishes 70,000 hooks per day then it will likely average 35,000 hooks per day during the Survey Mode. These are conservative estimates and a larger number of hooks may be fished per day in strata with higher station density, though this is not certain. If the catch goal of a stratum has not been met or exceeded by catches made at the survey stations visited in Survey Mode, the vessel shall switch to Tagging Mode and fish until the sampling requirement has been met. In Tagging Mode, the stations shall be selected by the captain, in consultation with the Field Party Chief, the goal being to find the highest concentrations of cod in the research stratum. The vessel may remain at a Tagging Station for up to three days before moving to another. If the vessel needs to move to another Tagging Station, it too shall be selected by the vessel captain, in consultation with the Field Party Chief. There are three restrictions of the captain's choice of Tagging Stations: all Tagging Stations must be separated from other stations by at least 40 nautical miles, none of the Survey Stations may be repeated as Tagging Stations, and Tagging Stations must be at a distance of 15 nautical miles or greater from strata boundaries. It is possible that in each area, the vessel may switch between Survey Mode and Tagging Mode as best suits vessel efficiency. However, we anticipate that the Survey Stations will have all been visited prior to switching to Tagging Mode. This is because if catch rates are high in Survey Stations then we may reach or exceed our minimum sampling requirement for a particular stratum. In anticipating the expected amount of fishing, the expected catch, and the expected bait requirements, the contractor should exercise due caution. In particular, the contractor should take care to avoid underestimating the bait requirement. The number of cod removed from the research catch for scientific purposes is expected to be about 300 per day in both Survey and Tagging Modes. The remainder of the catch shall be turned over to the vessel. Period of performance shall begin on or about September 10, 2010 for the first cruise. The second cruise shall begin on or about February 15, 2011. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) is 532411 with a size standard of $7M. A Request for Proposal (RFP) solicitation may be available on or about July 29, 2010 at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. The estimated response due date is August 30, 2010; however, the actual date offers are due will be stated within the solicitation documents. Paper copies of this solicitation will not be issued. The proposed contract is full and open competition. Interested parties should use the FedBizOpps [Add To Watchlist] and [Add Me To Interested Vendors] features which provide a notification when the RFP becomes available for download as well as all postings of information associated with this solicitation, thereafter. Each potential bidder is responsible for checking the FedBizOpps website to gain all current information related to the solicitation. The solicitation and any further announcements regarding the solicitation will be posted only at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. All questions of any nature regarding this procurement are to be sent to Contract Specialist, Mona Ash at Mona.M.Ash@noaa.gov. All vendors doing business with the Government are required to be registered with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). NO award can be made unless the vendor is registered in CCR. For additional information and to register in CCR, please access the following web site: http:///www.ccr.gov/. In order to register with the CCR and to be eligible to receive an award from this acquisition office, all bidders must also have a Dun & Bradstreet Number. A Dun & Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun & Bradstreet on-line at https://www.dnb.com/product/eupdate/requestOptions.html or by phone at (800) 333-0505. This procurement also requires bidders to complete the On-Line Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) at https://orca.bpn.gov/.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/WASC/AB133F-10-RP-0136/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Bering Sea, United States
- Record
- SN02204967-W 20100716/100714234438-e824258efc5812a101edaaaea4b85665 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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