Statement_of_Work_-_Solicitation.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

November 21, 2014

Title: Long-term Monitoring Program: Nearshore Monitoring Component – Nearshore Ecosystems in the Gulf of Alaska: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Restoration Project 12120114-R

Period of Performance: March 1, 2015 – September 30, 2016

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This project continues work under a component of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) Trustee Council’s integrated Long-term Monitoring of Marine Conditions and Injured Resources and Services program. This component focuses on resources within the nearshore ecosystem. The primary objective is to continue recovery and restoration monitoring in nearshore areas in the Gulf of Alaska, including study areas within Prince William Sound, Kenai Fjords, Katmai, and Kachemak Bay, following a nearshore monitoring plan initially developed in EVOS Restoration Project 050750 and tested in EVOS Restoration Project 070750. The monitoring work was implemented by the National Park Service in 2006. The present component began in 2012 (Restoration Project 12120114-R) and is funded through 2016 (the first five years of the current project).

2.0 BACKGROUND

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) Trustee Council selects research projects designed to evaluate the recovery and restoration of resources and services that were injured during the 1989 oil spill and funds them with settlement money received from the Exxon Mobil Corporation. Most of the resources injured as a result of the spill are associated with the nearshore environment, since most of the spilled oil was deposited in the intertidal zone, where a fraction still remains. Restoration Project 12120114-R was selected by the Trustee Council to continue a nearshore monitoring program that was designed and tested for the Trustee Council by Dr. Thomas Dean of Coastal Resources Associates, Inc., working with James Bodkin of the USGS during 2003 through 2008. The project now incorporates nearshore monitoring work that Dr. Dean and colleagues implemented in the Gulf of Alaska outside of Prince William Sound (collaborative with the National Park Service), as well as expanded monitoring within Prince William Sound and the overall effort, combining areas across the Gulf of Alaska, provides a comprehensive restoration monitoring program for the entire oil spill area.

3.0 SCOPE

This work provides restoration and ecosystem monitoring in the nearshore marine environment of selected areas of Prince William Sound, in combination with other areas in the Gulf of Alaska (including Kachemak Bay, Kenai Fjords, and Katmai) to evaluate the current status and trends of recovery of resources that were injured by the 1989 oil spill, as part of a long-term nearshore monitoring program. One objective is to identify if those injured resources being monitored may be considered recovered from the effects of the spill. Another objective is to identify potential factors that could be inhibiting recovery of the injured resources, and to recommend potential restoration actions. The goal of the long-term monitoring program is to be able to identify changes that are occurring within the ecosystem, identify causes for the changes, and if needed, to suggest potential actions to facilitate recovery or enhance protection of resources. Monitoring work initially designed by Dean and Bodkin is being used to determine current trends in population abundance or other parameters, such as age or size class distributions, that will be useful for evaluating the status of the resources. This contract will provide for participation of the Contractor in the nearshore monitoring program, including data analyses, data syntheses, and writing of reports and papers, in FY2015 and FY2016.

Funds to support this work in FY15 are being transferred to the USGS from the Trustee Council. Coastal Resources Associates has been one of the project leaders and principal investigators for this project since its inception, and has worked closely with scientists at USGS and NPS for over a decade of development and implementation of the work, and was named by the Trustee Council as one of the scientists to conduct the current project. Funding for FY16 is anticipated based on successful completion of work in 2015, and for this contract, FY16 funding is contingent upon receipt by the USGS of additional funds from the Council.

4.0 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

4.0.a. Project Plan: The work in this contract is outlined in detail in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Restoration Project #12120114-R, which was peer-reviewed, judged favorably for merit by an independent Science Panel, presented to the public for comment, and accepted for funding in a Notice to the U.S. District Court of Alaska on Oct. 31, 2011. The project as currently designed is planned to continue through 2016. This contract reflects the continuation and conclusion of nearshore monitoring work performed by Coastal Resources Associates, under USGS contract G13PX00140.

4.0.b. Sampling design: All of the sampling procedures, including site selection and specific sampling and analytical methods, and

4.0.c. Data reduction and Reporting: Statistical analysis and computer modeling are described in the following reports:

Dean, T. and J.L. Bodkin. 2006. Sampling Protocol for the Nearshore Restoration and Ecosystem Monitoring (N-REM) Program (Nearshore Restoration and Ecosystem Monitoring Research Project G-050750), US Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska. Report submitted to the EVOS Trustee Council. 99 pg. plus appendices.

Dean, T.A., Bodkin, J.L., and Coletti, H.A. 2014. Protocol narrative for marine nearshore ecosystem monitoring in the Gulf of Alaska: Version 1.1. Natural Resource Report NPS/SWAN/NRR—2014/756. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

5.0 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall assist in the overall planning of field operations, analyses of the field sampling results with particular responsibility for rocky intertidal data entry, proofing and analyses, and eelgrass bed data entry, proofing, and analyses. The Contractor shall participate in field work conducted in Prince William Sound. Field sampling will include sea otter abundance and diet, black oystercatcher density, productivity and diet, and sampling of infaunal invertebrates on sheltered rocky and soft sediment shorelines, and shall author a paper on the natural history of focus, and contribute to reports and papers prepared as summary documents of the nearshore monitoring work.

This contract continues with previous work and provides for a conclusion to the first 5-year phase of the Gulf Watch project in 2016.

Specific tasks remaining to be completed are:

FY 2015: Conduct data analysis (data input, proofing and analyses) for the rocky intertidal and the eelgrass sites, data collected in 2015, and contribute sections for the final report of the findings and recommendations. Assist in planning 2015 sampling program; take part in one trip summer of 2015. Author paper on the natural history of fucus. Train persons (one junior scientist and one technician) during 2015 fieldwork and subsequently by phone and internet for future entry and analyses of eelgrass data. Attend 1-2 meetings in Alaska, on nearshore monitoring work, to consult with scientists from the USGS and National Park Service as needed based on development of data analyses. Participate with USGS and NPS scientists in conference calls on nearshore monitoring project throughout the year.

FY 2016: Continue management of data from rocky intertidal and eelgrass bed sites; continue training person(s) to carry on these activities after FY2016. Assist in planning of overall nearshore monitoring program as it revises activities for the second 5-year phase (FY2017). Contribute to preparation of final papers and reports. Attend 1-2 meetings in Alaska, on nearshore monitoring work, to consult with scientists from the USGS and National Park Service. Participate with USGS and NPS scientists in conference calls on nearshore monitoring project throughout the year.

6.0 DELIVERABLES

The Annual Reports and draft Final Report listed below must follow the guidelines established by the EVOS Trustee Council, available at the following website: http://www.evostc.state.ak.us and the USGS Fundamental Science Practices (FSP) guidelines and review processes.

August 1, 2015: Draft white paper on the natural history of fucus.

August 1, 2015: Contributions on rocky intertidal and eelgrass sites for Annual Status Report for submission to the EVOS Trustee Council.

September 1, 2015: 2014 data from rocky intertidal and eelgrass sites to project website.