DRTO_Diseased_Coral_R_I_SOW.pdf

Statement of Work 2024 Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Reconnaissance and Intervention

Dry Tortugas National Park

Period of Performance: August 2024 – February 2025

Introduction/Background

The National Park Service (NPS) seeks to hire a qualified contractor (Contractor) to conduct reconnaissance and intervention activities for Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease1 (SCTLD) in Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO).

Coral reefs are the primary natural resources for which DRTO was created. The park’s enabling legislation identifies conservation of coral reef ecosystems as a specific park purpose. DRTO’s coral reefs provide:

• habitat and protection for a variety of marine organisms;

• shoreline protection for sea turtle and shorebird nesting habitat;

• shoreline protection for cultural resources such as Fort Jefferson and Loggerhead Key;

and

• unique and varied recreational opportunities to park visitors.

SCTLD was first reported off the coast of Miami-Dade County in 2014, and the SCTLD outbreak now extends across the entire Florida Reef Tract from Martin County to the Dry Tortugas, and has been detected at several locations in Mexico and the Caribbean. SCTLD impacts roughly half of Florida's 45 stony coral species, including key reef building species and five ESA-listed species.

SCTLD has high species-specific prevalence rates and high whole-colony mortality rates, leading to significant declines of susceptible species on impacted reefs.

SCTLD was first observed on DRTO reefs in 2021. Since then, the park and its partners have conducted intermittent disease monitoring and intervention efforts. The intervention method used to date in DRTO is the manual application of a pharmaceutical ointment containing the antibiotic amoxicillin. It is imperative that NPS understands the current status of the SCTLD outbreak in DRTO. Where disease is present, intervention is critically necessary to reduce disease-related mortality of the remaining coral resources.

This Statement of Work describes services to be contracted for SCTLD reconnaissance and intervention using proven best management practices (BMPs, Neely 20182), and.

Reconnaissance/Intervention Cruise

The Contractor will be responsible for planning and implementing a ten-day cruise to DRTO to conduct SCTLD disease reconnaissance, treat diseased corals, and collect and analyze tissue samples for population diversity analysis of SCTLD-susceptible species in DRTO.

1 Hawthorn, A.C., Dennis, M., Kiryu, Y., Landsberg, J., Peters, E., and Work, T., 2024, Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) case definition for wildlife: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 19, chap. I1, 20 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm19I1.

2 Neely, K. "Coral Disease Intervention Plan." Miami, FL: Florida DEP (2018).

Logistics

The Contractor will be responsible for all aspects of planning and implementing the cruise on a self-sufficient liveaboard dive platform operated by an NPS-authorized business. The NPS-authorized business must be a current holder of a NPS Commercial Use Authorization. DRTO is located approximately 70 miles from Key West, and working in this remote location presents substantial logistical challenges. Interested parties should take careful note of the working conditions associated with this contract:

• NPS facilities including dockage at Garden Key in DRTO are not available to the Contractor because of ongoing construction and limited resources, except in case of emergency.

• The Contractor must plan to bring all fuel, food, water, dive equipment, compressor equipment, and safety equipment, and to pack out all trash, waste, and debris.

• No lodging or bathroom facilities are available at DRTO for the Contractor team. The Contractor’s vessel/s should provide accommodation and facilities.

• The Contractor will be responsible for transporting its staff and vessel/s to the Park and back.

• Contractor work vessel/s should have sufficient ground tackle to anchor overnight in Garden Key Harbor at DRTO (sand bottom, water depths 20 to 30 feet).

• No food is available for purchase in DRTO. The Contractor team should plan on bringing all of the food and water it needs and should also plan on transporting its trash back to Key West.

• No marine services are available in DRTO. The Contractor team should plan on bringing all necessary fuel and oil and will be responsible for any vessel and equipment repairs that may be needed.

• The Contractor team will not be able to fill tanks at DRTO and should plan on using its own compressor or bringing enough full tanks to complete the job.

Geographic Focus

The Contractor will focus dive efforts solely within the boundary of Dry Tortugas National Park, on 3-4 reef areas with relatively high density of SCTLD-susceptible species. During the Planning Meeting (Task 1, described below), the most recently available data and NPS/partner observations on corals surviving the SCTLD outbreak and 2023 bleaching event will be reviewed to pinpoint the survey areas for the cruise.

Survey Methodology

During each dive, Contractor dive teams should survey reefs in a systematic search pattern that may vary with the reef type, depth range, and size of dive team. Each dive team shall carry dive flag with an affixed GPS to record diver tracklines, that will be used to document areas covered and to identify gaps in coverage. Divers will scan the reef for SCTLD-infected corals. Affected corals will be treated with an amoxicillin paste composed of a 1:8 by weight ratio of amoxicillin trihydrate (98% purity) and the proprietary ointment Base2b, developed by Ocean Alchemists/CoreRx. The Contractor will hand-mix amoxicillin and Base2b on the boat no more than 24 hours before application, and pack into 60cc catheter syringes or pastry piping bags. NPS will provide amoxicillin and Base2b to the Contractor. The Contractor will be responsible for providing all other equipment and supplies.

At each disease lesion encountered, the divers will apply the paste to the margin of the lesion and press it into the colony skeleton. For each colony treated, divers will record the date and time;

species and size class (e.g. colony diameter <10cm, 10-30cm, >30cm); and take a representative photo of each colony treated.

Tissue biopsies

The SCTLD outbreak has resulted in the substantial loss of large reef-building species (e.g., Colphophyllia natans, Orbicella faveolata, Pseudodiploria strigosa, and P. clivosa). To aid NPS in understanding the genetic structure of remaining corals of target species in DRTO, the Contractor will employ 2b-RAD methodology3. Divers on the cruise will opportunistically collect tissue biopsies from colonies of focal species as they are encountered. A maximum of 120 one-cm2 tissue biopsies from colonies of these species (i.e., 30 colonies biopsied per four species) will be collected.

Contract Tasks, Milestones, and Deliverables

The contract will include three tasks.

Task 1. Planning Meeting

Key Contractor personnel will meet with the NPS COR for half-day virtual meeting for a detailed discussion of cruise logistics, geographic focus, survey methodology, tissue biopsy protocol, and onsite requirements. During the Planning Meeting, the Contractor will also be briefed by an NPS representative on the reporting protocol to following if submerged archaeological sites or artifacts are suspected. The Contractor will submit a letter report via email to the COR describing the key points and decisions of the Planning Meeting, to include survey sites, schedule, platform, personnel, and roles.

• Milestone: The Planning Meeting will be conducted within two weeks of award.

• Deliverable: The Letter Report will be submitted to the COR via email within one month of award.

Task 2. Reconnaissance/Intervention Cruise

The Contractor will plan and implement a ten-day, self-sufficient cruise to conduct reconnaissance and intervention work as described in this Statement of Work and as refined in the Planning Meeting (Task 1). A suggested level of effort and staffing for the cruise is four teams divers with two divers per team, and each team conducting four dives per day. The Contractor will coordinate scheduling with and provide regular updates to the COR leading up to and during the cruise.

• Milestone: The Reconnaissance/Intervention Cruise will be completed within two to three months of award.

3 Wang, Shi, et al. "2b-RAD: a simple and flexible method for genome-wide genotyping." Nature methods 9.8 (2012): 808-810.

Task 3. Genetic Analysis of Coral Tissue Biopsies Using 2bRAD Methods

A maximum of 120 one-cm2 tissue biopsies from colonies of these species (i.e., 30 colonies biopsied per four species) will be collected during the cruise (Task 2). The Contractor will be responsible for storing, processing, and analyzing biopsies, and processing resulting bioinformatic data, per methods in Sturm et al. 2023 and Wang et al. 2012.

• Milestone: Genetic analysis will be completed within one month cruise completion.

Task 4. Summary Report

The Contractor will prepare a summary report to include:

• the number, location, size class, and species of treated corals

• maps and GPS data (in Excel or csv files in units of decimal degrees) of areas surveyed

• analysis and results of 2b-RAD sampling to include discussion of connectivity dynamics in context of DRTO and Florida/Gulf of Mexico populations of focal species

• recommendations on next steps for disease reconnaissance and intervention in DRTO

• recommendations on restoration strategies for focal species given genetic connectivity results

• representative photos

• daily log of activities

• copies of dive logs

• Milestone, Deliverable: The Contractor will submit the Summary Report to the COR via email and mail (as needed for large files) within one month of cruise completion.

Technical and Cost Proposals

Separate technical and cost proposals shall be submitted.

Technical Proposals: Technical proposals shall include:

• a brief narrative on the proposed approach to planning and implementing the cruise as described in the Statement of Work;

• a brief narrative on the institutional capacity (e.g., staff, equipment) to efficiently complete a project of this size and duration; and

• statements responding to the technical evaluation criteria (described below).

The Contractor shall be evaluated by three technical criteria. It may be in the interest of the Government to award to other than to the lowest price bidder or other than the highest technically rated bidder. The technical evaluation criteria, when combined, are more important than cost.

1. Qualifications and Relevant Experience of Personnel, including Key Personnel (40%)

• Provide proof of education, training, experience, and qualifications of all personnel (including key personnel), and subcontractors proposed for use under this contract.

• For key personnel, provide CVs and proof of professional qualifications.

• For key personnel, describe knowledge and experience in:

o meeting National Park Service requirements;

o implementing SCTLD monitoring and intervention in federally-protected areas;

o implementing coral population studies using restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) methods

2. Past Performance (Weight: 20%) Provide proof of past performance on government contracts, orders, and/or grants involving a) Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease monitoring and intervention, and b) analyzing coral populations using restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) methods, in terms of:

• quality of work;

• meeting schedules and deadlines;

• customer satisfaction; and

• cost control.

3. Recent Specialized Experience (Weight: 40%) Provide proof of specialized experience within the past five years with:

• implementing SCTLD monitoring and intervention in federally-protected areas;

• implementing coral population studies using restriction-site associated DNA sequencing

(RADseq) methods

Cost Proposals: Cost proposals shall be itemized according to task and shall include detailed information on:

• labor categories cross-referenced with key personnel;

• levels of effort and rates per labor category;

• direct costs including unit rates; and

• indirect costs.

This detailed breakdown must be provided for all tasks and for all members of the Contractor team, including subcontractors.