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BOTTOM TRAWL SURVEY OF GROUNDFISH AND CRAB OF THE EASTERN BERING SEA CONTINENTAL SHELF


Washington, United States
Government : Federal
RFP
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The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) Division has a requirement for two chartered fishing vessels with crew to conduct scientific trawl surveys of marine fish and crab populations in the Eastern Bering Sea Shelf (EBS). These comprehensive and standardized trawl surveys and related research in the 200-mile territorial Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters of the EBS off Alaska are required to quantitatively monitor and describe trends in abundance and distribution of commercially and ecologically valuable groundfish and crab populations. Data from these surveys is used to deliver annual estimates of groundfish and crab biomass and populations size and biological, habitat, oceanographic, and acoustic data for the eastern Bering Sea to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) Groundfish and Crab Plan Teams as needed for setting annual Allowable Biological Catch (ABC) and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels for groundfish and crab stocks in the Bering Sea. In odd years (2019 and 2021), the survey is extended into the northern Bering Sea where an additional stations are sampled as part of the AFSC Loss of Sea Ice initiative.



The baseline work consists of a series of bottom trawl operations conducted in the eastern Bering Sea over a base 55-day period that begins on or about May 26, but no later than June 7 of a given year for each charter. Alternate starting dates earlier or later than the preferred May 26 date may be considered. The fishing operations are conducted from two charter vessels and consist of 30-minute tows at fixed stations positioned along a 20 X 20 nm grid beginning in inner Bristol Bay with the vessels working on alternate columns of north-south stations, westward to the shelf edge to cover an area of 144,493 square nautical miles and fishing depths from 20-200 meters (11-109 fathoms). Each vessel will complete approximately 200 tows as part of the standard survey design. In years when the northern Bering Sea is sampled (2019, 2021), each vessel will complete approximately 72 additional tows.


The Government intends to a    ward two separate contracts for charter of TWO vessels (one vessel per contract award) from this requirement.


The Contractor shall furnish the necessary vessels, personnel, equipment, and services to perform the statement of work/specifications. Vessel requirements include, but are not limited to:


•    Minimum overall length (LOA) of 36.5 m (120 feet) and the vessel shall have been actively used for commercial trawling or research where trawl gear was used in the past 12 months.


•    Minimum continuous horsepower output from main engine of 850 HP.


•    Vessel must be able to consistently deploy, tow along the seabed at a continuous speed of no more or less than 5.6 km/hour (3 knots), and retrieve the standard 25.3/34.1 m (83/112 feet) survey trawl under normally expected fishing conditions for the duration of the survey.


•    Vessel must be able to maintain a minimum cruising speed of 16.67 km/hour (9 knots) in low sea states.


•    Fuel holding capacity for at least 30 days of continuous fishing operations, and the fuel must be usable and not required for ballast.


•    Vessel must be rigged for trawling including a gallows or gantry, a minimum of two net reels with capacity for the 25.3/34.1 m (83/112 feet) bottom trawl, split trawl winches with a minimum of 595 m (325 fathoms) of 2.53 cm (1 in.) diameter steel core trawl cable in good condition and free of signs of excessive wear (frayed, burrs, broken strands, corrosion), an auto-trawl system with the capability of adjustable winch brakes and measurement of trawl wire deployed and trawl cable which leads directly from the winches to the gallows trawl blocks.


•    A deck area clear of obstructions of at least 55.7 m2 (600 square feet) for sampling equipment including a 1.5 X 3.0-m (5 X 10 feet) sorting table, one 0.6 m X 1.2 m (2 X 4 feet) platform scale table for working on catches and obtaining biological data. And one 2.4 X 1.2 m (8 X 4 feet) area for anchoring two tanks with raw seawater supply for keeping fish alive.


•    Two adjacent deck bins, measuring 1.8 X 1.8 X 0.9 m (6 x 6 x 3 feet) minimum each, for holding and splitting catches.


•    A protected (sheltered from wind - e.g. shelter deck or wave wall) and lighted area on the deck where two work tables, one that measures 1.2 X 2.4 m (4 X 8 feet) and the second 1.2 X 1.2 m (4 X 4 feet), can be set up for collection of weights and other biological data from specimens retained from the catch.


•    Dry storage area(s) of at least 4.7 m3 (168 cu. ft.) on back deck or adequate space to mount a 1.8 X 1.2 X 2.1 m (6 ft. wide x 4 ft. deep x 7 ft.) high, Government provided, fiberglass shed used to hold on deck sampling equipment.


•    At least two electric power (110/115 V.A.C) outlets near on-deck work areas.


•    Seawater deck hose with sufficient volume and pressure to allow for cleaning of sorting table and sampling gear and for supplying saltwater to fish holding tanks. Pumps must be adequate for prolonged and continuous operation of fish holding tanks. An On/Off switch should be readily available from the working deck.


•    A hydraulic crane with the capability to lift catches of up to 5.4 mt (6 t) completely clear of the deck under normal weather conditions for the purposes of weighing larger catches. The crane must be made available for weighing catches under these circumstances. The crane must also have the ability to extend out 3 m (10 feet) past the side of the vessel. The crane must be able to manipulate the codend anywhere along the centerline of the working deck.


•    A minimum of two lifting winches for handling fishing gear and catches (i.e. gilson winches).


•    Dry storage area of at least 5.4 m3 (190 cu feet) in the deckhouse for holding and storing scientific supplies. This space must be easily accessible by the scientific survey crew and available at all times. Preferred: Larger interior storage area.


•    Storage area of at least 56.6 cu m (2,000 cu feet) for fishing gear and accessories. Preferred: Dry storage space for fishing gear and accessories, such as a hold or other vessel space.


•    A suitable desk or dry counter work space of at least 8 sq. ft. in the wheelhouse with adjacent 110/115 volts power outlets for installation of Government supplied personal computers, printer, GPS, trawl mensuration cabinet and other trawl mensuration equipment.


•    Access to and use of a suitable chart table in the wheelhouse.


•    Two (2) 1" diameter through-bulkhead access holes to the outside from the wheelhouse for the passage of GPS and hydrophone cables to Government computers and trawl mensuration units in the wheelhouse.


•    Two (2) suitable desk or shelf areas at least 0.6 X 1.2 m (2 x 4 feet) each with adjacent 110/115 volts power outlets for installation of Government supplied personal computers and printers.


•    A dry area of at least 10 sq. ft. with sufficient amperage for charging data collection devices (typically 10 tablets, multiple headsets, and Bluetooth peripherals).


•    A minimum of 0.5 cu m (17.5 cu ft.) of freezer storage.


•    One clothes washer and one clothes dryer in proper working order for personal laundry.


•    Potable fresh water supply adequate for vessel and personal use (including showers and laundry) by vessel and scientific crew for approximately 30 days. If a water maker is not available, then a minimum holding capacity of 22.7 kl (6,000 gal) of freshwater is required.


•    Clean, sanitary, and appropriate accommodations for each member of scientific field party, captain, and crew. Berthing must be able to accommodate a scientific field party of at least six with any mix of male and female scientists and single-sex staterooms, including clean mattresses for all bunks.


•    A Simrad ES-60 or newer echo sounder system with a 38 kHz transducer. The echo sounder system(s) shall be connected to a GPS unit.


•    2 VHF radios and two Single side-band units with at least one being synthesized in the 2-18 MHZ range.


•    A system for switching to backup power (e.g., battery) for radio operation in the event of interruption of the normal power supply.


•    Minimum of two (2) GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers with differential or Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) capability.


•    Radar - 2 units with a minimum range of 77.2 km (48 miles).


•    Depth sounders - *Two Color scope units with minimum range of 1,100 m (600 fm) and operating in the 38-50 kHz range.


•    An electronic plotting and navigational charting system with the ability to upload station location (point data). Preferred: Globe navigational system (Electronic Charts, Inc.).


•    A communication system allowing reliable sending and receiving messages, and uploading and downloading of files.


•    A Satellite or broadband telephone for use at sea.


•    A cellular telephone for use when service is available in the survey area or in port.


A comprehensive list of actual requirements will be included in the Statement of Work within the solicitation package document.


The Contractor shall furnish all necessary vessel(s), personnel, equipment, required for performance of the statement of work/specifications which will be provided in the RFP.


The proposed contract action is 100% set-aside for small business concerns. The NAICS code for this procurement is 483114 and the business size standard for this requirement is 500 employees. It is highly encouraged that any vendor meeting this size standard and desiring to be considered for award be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) using this NAICS code or a NAICS code with an equivalent size standard. For additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: www.sam.gov. In order to register with the SAM, all offerors 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://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm or by phone at (866) 969-8491. It is also preferred that offerors to complete the electronic representations and certifications at the SAM website.


Any resulting contract will be awarded as a firm-fixed price type contract. Solicitation documents will be made available for download on or about December 15, 2017 at http://www.fbo.gov/. Paper copies of this solicitation will not be issued. Interested parties should use the FedBizOpps [Add to Watchlist] and [Add Me to Interested Vendors] features which provide a notification when the Request for Proposal (RFP) becomes available for download as well as all postings of information associated with this solicitation thereafter. Each potential offeror 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.fbo.gov/. The date offers are due will be stated within the solicitation documents and will be adjusted based upon the actual release date of the solicitation. All questions of any nature regarding this procurement should be sent in writing to the Contracting Officer, Crystina Jubie at Crystina.R.Jubie@noaa.gov or via fax at (206)527-3916.


Crystina R Jubie, Contracting Officer, Phone (206) 526-6036, Fax (206)527-3916, Email crystina.r.jubie@noaa.gov

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