DRAFT SON 143061-26-0083.pdf

DRAFT

STATEMENT OF NEED

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) NOAA Fisheries

Alaska Fisheries Science Center / REFM Division Ovary Histological Services

PURPOSE:

Histological processing of fish ovaries

SCOPE:

This work will result in processed and stained histology slides to determine the reproductive status and maturity of fish.

• For unprocessed ovaries, that are not provided in histological cassettes, the contractor will trim the full ovary by slicing through the center of the ovary and placing the section in a cassette, process and embed into paraffin block, face the FFPE block, cut the FFPE slide, stain the resulting section, and store the finished slide in slide storage boxes.

• For pre-processed ovary specimens, those previously trimmed and in histological cassettes, the contractor will process and embed the cassettes sample into a paraffin block, face the FFPE block, cut the FFPE slide, stain the resulting section, and store the finished slide in slide storage boxes.

• The specimens will be shipped or delivered to the contractor by NOAA Fisheries staff. All resulting slides, for unprocessed and pre-processed ovaries, will be shipped from the contractor to the NOAA Fisheries researcher upon completion.

BACKGROUND:

Fish ovaries act as detailed biological snapshots of a fish’s reproductive history and future spawning potential. Ovaries contain oocytes (eggs) at various stages of cellular development, alongside microscopic markers such as post-ovulatory follicles left behind by recent spawning events. Certain cellular structures develop with predictable seasonality and can be used to verify when a fish has reached sexual maturity, thereby validating macroscopic maturity estimates made in the field. Similarly, histological features retained in ovarian tissue can be used to classify fish into precise reproductive phases, and have been increasingly used as a tool in a variety of ecological applications, including studies of spawning frequency, population fecundity, and life history strategies. The goal of the proposed work is to use standard histological processing (including tissue embedding, sectioning, and specialized staining) to evaluate the microscopic developmental stages in fish ovaries of commercially important species for the precise determination of age and size at maturity to support biological research. These results are critical to ensuring the accuracy of spawning stock biomass estimates used in fisheries stock assessments and confirming the sustainability of current harvest strategies.

DRAFT

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

The specifications below are designed to produce histology slides which are comparable to previous studies done by the AFSC. Samples will be provided in 10% formalin with individual samples labeled with unique specimen identifiers.

1) For ovaries that are not provided in histological cassettes, the contractor will trim the ovary, obtaining a cross section of the specimen as specified by the researcher, and cassette the resulting tissue sample. If the ovary cross section is too large for the cassette, a pie slice is to be taken from the cross section to include a section of the ovary wall and oocytes from the center of the ovary. If the ovary is too small to be sectioned, place the whole ovary in the cassette. . The samples will be processed in the contractor's facility.

2) For samples that are provided in histological cassettes and those that are not provided in histological cassettes, the contractor will embed the cassette sample into paraffin block, face the FFPE block, cut the FFPE slide, and stain using hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) or Schiff’s mallory, as specified by the researcher. The resulting histological thin section slides will be labeled with the unique sample identifiers that were provided by the researcher and will be stored in slide storage boxes. The samples will be processed in the contractor's facility.

3) The contractor's facility must be within a reasonable driving distance (less than 100 miles) of Seattle so that the researcher will not be required to travel overnight to deliver samples to the contractor.

4) The contractor/lab must have previous experience in processing fish ovaries for histology.

5) The contractor shall label and organize all samples sequentially and return the processed slides to the researcher via a shipping service.

6) For the base year, the contractor will stain 400 H&E stained samples, 1300 Schiff’s mallory stained samples, and trim 1300 whole ovaries.

7) For all option years, the contractor will stain 400 H&E stained samples, 400 Schiff’s mallory stained samples, and trim 400 whole ovaries.

DELIVERABLES:

• The contractor must deliver stained, labelled histology slides via a shipping provider.

GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED RESOURCES:

Biological samples

● Unprocessed samples = whole ovaries

● Pre-processed samples = cut ovaries stored in cassettes

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE:

Ovaries will be processed for histology at the contracted facility

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

10/1/2026 - 9/30/2027 (base) 10/1/2027 - 9/30/2028 (Option year 1) 10/1/2028 - 9/30/2029 (Option year 2) 10/1/2029 - 9/30/2030 (Option year 3) 10/1/2030 - 9/30/2031 (Option year 4