FBO_Announcement_-_Intent_to_Award_Notice_-__1.pdf

Intent to Award Notice – 140G0124Q0186

The US Geological Survey (USGS) North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (NC

CFWRU) supporting the Ecosystems Mission Area has a requirement for PUBLICATION of a BOOK.

The primary use of this publication is to disseminate to any interested entity an extensive body of the research by our unit scientists. This volume will include approximately 20 years of research on the biology, ecology, and species diversity of Puerto Rico’s inland fish fauna.

The AFS Books Department is the sole publisher of American Fisheries Society (AFS) books and is uniquely suited to publish this comprehensive work on the biology, ecology, and management of Puerto

Rico’s inland fishes. The AFS Books Department is the only publisher that is solely dedicated to promoting the teaching and practice of fisheries science and management. Their texts are produced for classroom learning, continuing professional development, and public education and their books are marketed widely, providing an opportunity for experts to share their knowledge not only with AFS members, but also with the fisheries community and general public. Thus, publication through the AFS Books Department will ensure that this research reaches the largest and most-relevant audience possible.

The total anticipated period of performance will be Date of Award – 07/05/2024.

The USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the above. Therefore, it intends to make an award to American Fisheries Society unless it is contacted by any vendor who believes they have can provide a service that can meet the needs of this requirement. Vendors are invited to contact the Contracting Officer, Tricia Rampersad via email at trampersad@usgs.gov no later than 1:00 PM EDT, Friday, June 28, 2024, with an affirmative answer.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Protected Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting

Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (FAR 13.1)

The following information is provided to demonstrate the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications:

The AFS Books Department is the only publisher that can provide the specific copy-editing that is required for this publication. AFS is the authority on the common names of North American fishes and maintains a list of accepted common names and sets a standard for the formatting of common names that is understood broadly by fisheries professionals. Nomenclature is critical to this publication as it is focused on species identification. AFS copy editors will ensure that the common names in this book are correct and the most up-to-date possible, thereby ensuring that readers learn the correct names. AFS is also an authority on a standardized format for communicating fisheries science that is understood by the target audience. For example, AFS adheres to unique formatting for numbers and measurements, symbols, mathematics and statistics, punctuations, references, and tables, among others that most of the book’s readership understand and are familiar with and fully understand. AFS copy editors or members are uniquely qualified to ensure that this format is followed and will ensure that the message that was intended to be transmitted is received by the readers of this book. The intended readership includes Puerto Rico natural resources professionals, academics, and stateside professionals. Puerto Rico is geographically within the Southern Division of the

American Fisheries Society as are the states, such as Florida and Texas, that this book will be most relevant to.

The AFS Books Department is also uniquely qualified for the printing of this book. Specifically, the technical photographs of fish anatomy contained within this book are critical to its purpose of facilitating correct species identification. The AFS Books Department’s specific expertise with publication of books on the identification and anatomy of fish is necessary to ensure that the printed pages faithfully transmit the colors, scales, fin rays and fin spines and other key anatomical features for fish identification that are mailto:trampersad@usgs.gov contained in the digital images to be printed.

Various publications are used by the USGS for publishing scientific findings. However, based on the following market research that identified and evaluated possible venues it was determined that AFS is the only appropriate and effective venue for the publication of the specialized USGS and partner scientific findings that are included in this book. It is necessary that the book be published with an established and authoritative source, using AFS technical style, solely focused on fisheries science publications that as.

Moreover, AFS is the authority of common names for North American fishes, thus, ensuring proper use scientific and common names.

The statutory authority for this sole source acquisition is in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) – only one source reasonably available. USGS believes that the American Fisheries Society is the only source available that can meet these specialized requirements.