SON NFFM73202301287.pdf

STATEMENT OF NEED

(NF-FM7320-23-01287)

BACKGROUND / SCOPE / MISSION:

The primary purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered large whale species, with only an estimated 450 remaining. The leading causes of known mortality for North Atlantic right whales are entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes.

NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and our partners are dedicated to conserving and rebuilding the North Atlantic right whale population. We use a variety of innovative techniques to study, protect, and rescue these endangered whales. We believe that working with engineers and fishermen to test and evaluate new technologies will help engage our partners as we develop solutions to reduce the risk of entanglements.

The NEFSC Gear Research Team is looking to collaborate with commercial fishermen to evaluate new technologies intended to minimize the potential for marine mammal interactions in pot and trap fisheries. Our goal is to provide fishermen the technology for testing and to attain their input concerning reliability, operational usability, safety, and performance.

The NEFSC has purchased buoyless/ropeless solutions for pot and trap fishing gear. We supply these systems to fishermen to test for operational, reliability, and to familiarize fishermen who can report on concerns or successes. We are looking to purchase a quantity of tilt sensors with temp, to help us evaluate operational concerns (system’s orientation e.g., system landing upside down) when we trial ropeless systems.

INTENDED USE / PURPOSE:

We are looking to purchase commercial off the shelf units to measure tilt and depth on commercial fishing gear, primarily ropeless systems being trialed in the lobster fishery. The units will be attached to ropeless cages within the fishing operation and inform us if the gear was not set in the correct orientation. Additionally, we plan to use these for other field work on various fishing gear.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS ESSENTIAL SALIENT FEATURES:

Contractor shall provide all labor, materials, equipment and transportation needed to delivery

The system at minimum must meet or exceed the following:

1. be able to record and transmit tilt and temperature, (optional) pressure readings and withstand depths to 300 meters.

2. Tilt resolution must be 0.05o or better, range must be +/-90° (180° span), and accuracy must be +/-3° or better.

3. Clock accuracy shall be +/-1 min/month or better.

4. Battery must be replaceable or have a minimum life of 5 years or better.

5. Data: unit must be able to download data to a standard laptop and have capacity of 40,000 measurements or better and data recording interval options must be allowed

6. Connectors and connection type shall be through nonproprietary means, e.g., USB cable or wirelessly.

7. Must include brackets/housing/attachment points to attach units to wire cages.

8. Must include all software to display recorded measurements. Software shall be compatible with computers operating Windows OS.

9. Temperature range must be -1°C to +40°C with an accuracy of +/-0.5°C or better.

10. (Optional) Pressure/Depth capability for the unit shall be 300 meters or more, accuracy shall be +/-1% of selected range or better, and the depth response time should be instantaneous.

11. Recording capability minimum of 4 weeks.

DELIVERY LOCATION:

166 Water Street

Woods Hole, MA 02543

DELIVERY SCHEDULE: 45 days after date of award.