Q&A for CESU 17-29.pdf

Questions for CESU 17-29 WAKE ATOLL FISHERY SURVEYS FOR WAKE ISLAND AIRFIELD.

Question 1. The language in the statement of work has quite a few logistical requirements with costs that are very hard to estimate without some assistance from someone on Wake Island with authority to provide estimates and recommend a sub-NFE. Here's the language from the SOW: "The NFE shall be responsible for procuring supplies and getting them to WIA. The NFE shall coordinate with the WIA POC regarding logistics of getting supplies to Wake Island. The NFE is responsible to obtain rental vehicles, vehicle fuel, hotel, boat fuel, meals, flights, shipping, logistics support, and on island freezer usage. It is recommended that NFE utilizes a sub-NFE for on island transportation, vessel rental, tank fills, and shore-side labor if the NFE lacks such team members and logistical expertise."

Will dive tanks be available again for the proposed surveys, and if so, what would be the cost of tank rentals? Also, last time the rented tanks and filled them ourselves at the fire station. Would the same procedure continue to take place?

Answer 1. Per the SOW, the NFE will be provided a contact from WIA for supporting the logistics of getting people and equipment to WIA after the CESU award has been made. The 611 CES/CEIE Project Manager will provide the WIA POC, but said POC is not on hire for assisting folks with their proposal costs or deriving logistical plans for their proposals, hence provisioning of said information takes place post award.

Lodging and meal costs are depicted on DoD's public websites accessible to all bidders - The Defense Travel Management Office website is located at Blockedwww.defensetravel.dod.mil. The on-site contractor is not permitted to charge above the max rates for hotel or billeting or meals.

There is a chartered rotator flight to WIA every 14-15 days to/from Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam (not Guam). The Travel Management Office on Hickam can provide an estimated flight cost at 808-449-9973 or 808-449-6833 ; or via email to: HCKM.TMO@NAVY.MIL.

Question 2. Also, the SOW does not specify if there is a boat operating at Wake Island that can be used (or chartered) for survey work.

Answer 2. Vehicle and vessel rentals on WIA if available are done through Base Operating Support (BOS) contractor, the federal government does not control these prices. The NFE is welcome to reach out to the BOS contractor for pricing information, which is what many other NFE's and private firms have done to date. If this information cannot be obtained before the submission date, the NFE should make fair market value cost assumptions for proposal purposes.

Question 3. If neither CFSI nor the government (USAF) have a vessel available for rental to conduct fishery surveys, have others shipped vessels out on the barge or by plane? If this is a possibility, would the government be able to provide an estimate of costs for this shipping by either method?

Will the NFE be able to serve as operators of these vessels (that are either rented or brought), or will the NFE now require separate operators from CFSI or elsewhere? If the latter is available through CFSI, can the government estimate the daily, 12-hr rate (8 normal + 4 hr over time per day) for a certified captain?

Note that days in the field at Wake Atoll will be 12 hour days.

Answer 3. The federal government currently does not have a government owned vessel on WIA to support this project. The NFE shall arrange its own vessel support on its own or through a 2nd party if they lack logistical support and need it for data collection of species mentioned. The federal government cannot provide them with free vessel usage. The government does not mandate that vessels be used for this project, but NFE's are allowed to include such tool in their proposal and methodology. It is possible that a proposal for fishery monitoring could be devised, which does not require a boat

Question 4. From a scientific perspective, the provision that surveys of target species be conducted by collecting individuals of each seems odd unless the only concern is catch-per-unit-effort for each species. There are better methods that may be employed that are geared for both fisheries and conservation management if the language in the SOW is not to be taken too literally.

Answer 4. The NFE is not limited by the SOW to any specific survey methods/science. These details are finalized in the proposal and further discussed in the draft work plan. The proposal and work plan, would reference those other instances, when the approach/methodologies suggested by the NFE were used elsewhere to track fisheries. This usage of a method or survey style used prior in similar instances, would garner confidence that the methods are not experimental, but rather based on success elsewhere, and for the same management goals or similar (tracking fish populations).