Sources Sought
Disclaimer: This is not a solicitation. This is not a request for quote (RFQ), invitation for bid (IFB), request for proposal (RFP), request for application (RFA) or an announcement of a solicitation, and does not assume the Government will award a contract or proceed with any of the above solicitation efforts in the near future. This request is for information purposes only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued or awarded. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect cost or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the submission of information. All information considered proprietary shall be marked accordingly. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for improperly identified proprietary information. Properly identified proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with federal regulations. The purpose of this announcement is solely to gather information from the marketplace, and any responses received will neither be considered an offer by the responding party nor returned to the responding party. No telephone inquiries will be accepted, and requests for solicitation packages will not honored since no solicitation has been prepared.
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Auke Bay Laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is conducting market research for the purposes of seeking sources capable of collecting and entering data from sablefish fishery logbooks.
REQUIREMENT: The proposed contract requirements require the vendor to have previously and current established trusted relationships with the Sablefish Longline industry. The information contained in logbooks collected by the samplers includes fishing locations, depths, dates, and gear descriptions that are highly guarded by fishing captains. These trade secrets for their fishing operations are considered sensitive and confidential, thus requiring the vendor of the proposed award to have current established trusted relationships with the Sablefish industry specifically.
The fishery data in these logbooks are collected for use in sablefish stock assessment. Services required include, but are not limited to:
1. Logbook collection in eight ports of landing in Alaska (Sitka, Kodiak, Petersburg, Seward, Dutch Harbor, St. Paul, Homer, Juneau) and one in Bellingham, Washington.
2. Dockside interviews with fishermen at time of landing, which includes logbook collection, signature of acknowledgement that the data is confidential, and editing of raw data to resolve discrepancies and illegible entries.
3. Entry of logbook data into an electronic format, including double data entry for quality control.
4. Query NMFS landing database to obtain official and confidential Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) landing trip reports.
5. Programmer time to organize and produce data in an electronic database format which links official IFQ landing reports to logbook trip entries.
6. Provide entire dataset to ABL in electronic format.
During each fishing season, the contractor is required to conduct approximately 600-800 dockside interviews with up to 250 vessels and from that collect an average of 1,000 log sheets. This represents a total of approximately 5,500 sets which are provided to ABL.
Background:
The stock assessment of Alaska sablefish is closely scrutinized because of the high value of the fishery (ex vessel value over $100 million). Fishery data, along with survey data, is used to manage this fishery. Sablefish fishery data is obtained from these sources:
• fishery data collected by observers since 1990
• voluntary logbooks since 1997
• required logbooks since 1999
Sablefish logbook fishery data is important for management and assessment of sablefish in Alaska because:
1. The Sablefish Logbook Program was initiated by sablefish fishermen's desire for NMFS to consider more fishery based information in the sablefish stock assessment. The sablefish stock assessment will be more credible if these data are collected and analyzed by NMFS in assessing sablefish abundance. If these data are not collected and analyzed, there will likely be increased scrutiny of sablefish management by the fishing industry.
2. Incorporation of more fishery data into the sablefish assessment has been promoted by the Scientific and Statistical Committee of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
3. In 2000, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council endorsed the use of fishery data in the apportionment of the allowable catch to the management areas.
4. Fishery data is used as an index of abundance in the sablefish model that estimates population size.
5. The observer data collected covers about 25% of the catch by weight. The logbook program broadens coverage to about 50% of the catch.
6. Logbooks from vessels <60ft in length that are voluntarily turned in to port samplers are the only source of data from vessels of this size. Much of the sablefish fleet is comprised of these vessels.
The preferred method for collecting logbook data is to interactively interview fishing vessel captains during fish deliveries to ensure reliability of data. This requires an established port sampling program in addition to a data entry and data verification system. This contract will provide a service to collect, enter, and verify fishery logbook data and provide summarized data to the Auke Bay Lab for use in the sablefish stock assessment.
Contractor's specialized experience must include the following:
1. Demonstrated understanding and knowledge of the longline fishery in Alaska, the sablefish fishing gear used, fishing techniques employed, the data fields, and the objectives of the log book program.
2. History and demonstrated ability to obtain captains' personal fishing logbooks, as well as an established trust-based working relationship between the fishing industry and fisheries management agencies.
3. Established dockside program, already in place.
4. Extensive expertise collecting logbooks from fisherman and analyzing longline logbook information.
5. Contractor must have previously and current established trusted relationships with the Sablefish Longline industry, directly related to dockside sampling.
6. Maintain a strict policy concerning confidentiality of logbook data, which cannot be subpoenaed or obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) due to protection under the International Organizations Immunities Act (USC 22, Section 228a).
The anticipated period of performance September 1, 2016 - August 31, 2017with three (3) additional one-year options.
The NAICS code for this requirement is 541990 and the small-business size standard is $15M.
The Government anticipates awarding a fixed-price service contract for the sablefish fishery logbook project.
No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the submission of contractor's information. 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.
Your response shall reference this Sources Sought number ABL-16022. Your response shall include the following information:
•SBA designation (i.e. 8(a), HUBZONE, Woman Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned, Small Disadvantaged Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, etc.), •Business Name
•CAGE Code
•Name of point of contact
•Email address
•Phone and fax numbers
•Size standard of company
•All firms responding to this Sources Sought must articulate and detail their capabilities clearly and adequately by providing past experience that is similar to the size, scope and complexity of the requirements outlined in this synopsis. Firms should include a description of subcontracting, if any, that will be required to provide technically acceptable services for this requirement.
** Responses must also detail out history of proven positive trusted relationships with the Sablefish industry
Telephone responses are NOT solicited and will not be accepted. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. This synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to award a contract, nor will the Government pay for the solicited information.
Please submit your response via email to the attention of Ms. Suzanne Johnston (Suzanne.johnston@noaa.gov) no later than December 1, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. Alaska Standard Time. Each response shall be no more 8 single-sided, single-spaced pages (excluding the cover page), and each page shall be separately numbered.
Suzanne Johnston, Phone 907-789-6061, Fax 907-789-6094, Email suzanne.johnston@noaa.gov
