NF-FM7920-22-02199 Sole Source Justification Redacted.pdf

Version 3.0

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED

ACQUISITION THRESHOLD USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

NF-FM7920-22-02199

1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD), and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center

(NEFSC).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a sole source justification for a follow-on to purchase order 1305M220PNFFM0498 for the Cooperative Gulf of Maine (GOM) Bottom Longline Survey. A firm-fixed price contract with Fishing Vessel Mary Elizabeth is contemplated for award. FAR Parts 12 – Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services and 13.5 – Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items will be used.

3. Description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the total estimated value).

The purpose of this acquisition is to provide NOAA/NMFS/NEFSC services for the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey. The services will include sampling for the 10th and 11th years of a bottom longline (fixed gear) survey in the western and central GOM. This survey is focused on areas of complex rocky habitat that are not easily sampled by mobile trawl gear. The data provided by the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey is needed to support fisheries resource assessment and management efforts in New England. The survey targets groundfish species and data poor species, as well as species that are not well sampled in bottom trawl surveys and are not caught or retained in substantive numbers by commercial or recreational fisheries (Atlantic halibut, wolfish, thorny skate, cusk). The information from the GOM Bottom Longline Survey will help inform a potential Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing decision for cusk. This work builds and strengthens upon previously funded and ongoing cooperative research sampling programs utilizing fixed longline gear that are more restricted in geographic scope. The anticipated period of performance is December 1, 2022 through November 30, 2024, with an estimated value of for the base period and for the base plus three one-year option periods.

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7.5M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a sole source as supported below:

Compatibility to Existing Studies -

a. Fishing Vessel Mary Elizabeth has conducted previous legs of the Cooperative Gulf of

Maine Bottom Longline Survey, and is a match in fishing capabilities. The continuation of the survey is critical to providing sufficient statistical samples to produce meaningful and accurate results for stock assessments of key commercial and ESA species in the Gulf of Maine. Unlike a one-time project that may be performed by a number of vessels that have the proper technical specifications, on-going survey projects need to ensure data is collected as consistently as possible to allow for a year to year comparison and to accurately capture trends over time. Thus, it is critical for the fishing protocols and fishing efforts to be as consistent as possible over the successive years of a survey. This includes the type of bait, how the gear is baited and laid in the totes, the speed at which the gear is set and hauled, and setting the gear the same way in relation to the tide and critically, the bottom habitat. Each particular fisherman has their own slightly different way of doing these things, or different hauling winches onboard their vessel that would introduce variability in these factors. Introducing a new vessel would introduce variability into the survey. Thus, contracting a new vessel to participate in this survey would render the data collected incomparable to that from the last 7 years of the survey. This would defeat the purpose of the survey, which is to provide a consistent time-series of abundance.

b. A change in vendor would mean the beginning of a completely new data time series due to the differences in fishing power and gear handling that a new vessel and crew would introduce. Though vessel specifications may be able to be closely matched, each fisherman has slightly different ways of baiting, setting and hauling gear that would introduce inconsistencies in the sampling. This would result in incomparable data between the past seven years and subsequent years of the survey. This would impede meaningful analysis and application of the survey data. Retaining Fishing Vessel Mary Elizabeth to continue to conduct the survey would allow NOAA to accomplish its mission of providing a continued supplemental GOM survey to complement data collected by the NEFSC bottom trawl survey. In order for the on-going survey results to be statistically valid, Fishing Vessel Mary Elizabeth must provide the study platforms for the continuing years of the longline survey. A new competition to complete the work would introduce variances in data collection protocols that would prevent meaningful analyses and application of the GOM Bottom Longline Survey and pose an acute risk of several years of wasted money and effort to the Government.

c. Fishing Vessel Mary Elizabeth is also well-trained in the fishing and data collection protocols of the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey, and has met with scientific experts a number of times during planning sessions for previous years of the longline survey. Continuing the survey with a new entity would require additional training and cause the learning curve to begin again, while introducing higher error rates in the data. In addition, the removal of existing scientific equipment and installation of the scientific equipment on a new vessel would set back the project and would squander a great deal of time and money invested into the study. The additional training and time spent determining a new configuration and wiring of the scientific equipment on a new vessel would have significant costs in terms of scientific staff time and supplies. This would take away from other work, in addition to diminishing the value of earlier investments.

For the aforementioned reasons, it’s necessary for the Government to negotiate on a sole source basis with Fishing Vessel Mary Elizabeth for the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

As required by FAR 13.105(a), a notification stating intent to sole source will be posted at sam.gov.

Any responses received from the notification on sam.gov will be considered by the Government.

Additionally, the redacted JOFOC will be posted to sam.gov within 14 days of contract award.

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated prices will be fair and reasonable based upon a comparison with the Independent Government Estimate and market prices for similar services.

Prior to the award of the proposed contract, pricing information shall be obtained from the Contractor and a price analysis will be performed to sufficiently determine that the cost to the Government of the proposed acquisition will be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 13.106- 3(a). If pricing cannot be determined fair and reasonable, no award will be made.

8. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

No additional efforts were taken to obtain competition since this is not an issue whether or not there are other entities capable of performing the physical work, but one of scientific validity.

In order to keep the scientific integrity of the survey data so that it can be compared to prior years’ data, the same vessel platforms must be maintained. Thus, no additional efforts were taken to obtain competitive estimates. The requirement cannot be modified in any manner due to the need to avoid introducing major variability in data collection methods, which would render efforts from previous years a waste of time and money.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

All pertinent facts have been documented within other sections of this document. There are no additional facts to be reported in this section.