Single Source_ACQ-26-0810_Redacted.pdf

Version 2.0 19Aug2020

SINGLE SOURCE DETERMINATION USING

SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES (SAP)

FOR AN ACTION NOT EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

(AUTHORITY: FAR 13.106-1(b)(1))

Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division, Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) and Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering

Description of supplies or services required to meet agency needs (including the estimated value)

Purchase of up to 5 years Echoview software Maintenance and Technical Support (MATS) for licenses AFSC-1, AFSC-2, AFSC-3, AFSC-3A, AFSC-4, AFSC-9, and EV0245. Echoview MATS provides bug fixes, enhancements, and technical support for the mission critical Echoview software application used by the MACE and FOCI groups for fisheries stock assessment work at AFSC. This application is a critical component of the data collection and processing pipeline that directly feeds stock assessment work in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea.

Identification of the single source or the brand name to be solicited.

Echoview Software Pty Ltd GPO Box 1387, Hobart Tasmania 7001 Australia Rowland Washington +1 206 691 8293 rowland.washington@echoview.com

Supporting rationale. Only one source or brand name is reasonably available as detailed below:

Brand Name – This particular brand name is essential to the requirement and market research indicates similar products do not meet or cannot be modified to meet agency needs.

Echoview stands as the de facto industry standard for the post-processing of hydroacoustic data in fisheries research and management. Its position in the market is unique for several key reasons:

Market Exclusivity: There are currently no other comparable commercial products available. The only historical alternative, the Large Scale Survey System (LSSS), is no longer commercially supported.

Limitations of Open-Source Alternatives: While open-source applications such as Sonar4/5, ESP3, and MatEcho exist, they lack the comprehensive feature sets required for NOAA’s mission-critical work. Furthermore, these tools are typically maintained by foreign research agencies whose development priorities align with their own internal mandates rather than NOAA’s specific requirements.

The Necessity of Commercial Support: Hydroacoustic instrumentation and analytical techniques evolve rapidly. Reliable, professional support is essential to ensure software remains compatible with new hardware and methodologies.

Strategic Partnership: As a commercial entity, the developers of Echoview have a direct financial incentive to collaborate with NOAA scientists. This relationship ensures a high level of responsiveness, with the Echoview team consistently delivering timely bug fixes and implementing custom features tailored to agency needs.

Compatibility to existing systems or equipment - The required service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with existing systems or equipment, and the source is uniquely qualified to meet the requirement.

Scientists within the RACE division possess extensive experience with Echoview.

Transitioning to a different primary acoustics analysis application would significantly hinder productivity and incur substantial costs for staff retraining. Furthermore, as Echoview is the established standard across NMFS, its continued use facilitates the invaluable sharing of analysis techniques and standardized workflows among agency users.

Exclusive Licensing Agreement/Restrictive Rights/Authorized Reseller - The source has one or more of the following: an established exclusive licensing agreement, proprietary data, limited rights in data, patent rights, OEM required certifications or OEM authorized reseller, copyrights or secret processes with regard to the supplies or services required.

Echoview Pty Ltd owns the intellectual property and source code for the Echoview application. No other company can fix issues with and add features to Echoview.

5. Market Research.

Currently there are no other commercially available software applications for the analysis of fisheries acoustics data. The only other commercial product, LSSS, recently transitioned to an open-source model. As stated above, commercial support is critical to ensure rapid response by the application developers. The open-source applications that are available do not meet our requirements and would require a significant investment in developer time to implement the required features and then maintain them going forward.

6. Technical/Requirements Representative Certification

I certify that this requirement constitutes the Government’s minimum needs and the supporting data provided herein is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Rick Towler Date IT Specialist AFSC/RACE/MACE

Robert Foy Date Director, AFSC

7. Determination

I hereby determine that the circumstances of this action deem only one source is reasonably available. This determination is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

TOWLER.RICHARD.

HENRY.1365860641

Digitally signed by

TOWLER.RICHARD.HENRY.1365860

Date: 2026.05.11 09:42:12 -07'00'

6/16/26

LANG.CHRISTIE.A

NNE.1156642300

Digitally signed by

LANG.CHRISTIE.ANNE.11566423

Date: 2026.06.16 14:53:30 -07'00'