SSN OLE Genetic Test Kits for Seafood Identification.pdf

REQUEST FOR SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT

1.0 Description

In preparation for an upcoming procurement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Acquisition Division (WAD), on behalf of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) is conducting market research and seeking possible sources to research, develop, and field deploy rapid, genetic-based test kits to accurately identify the species of imported seafood. Seafood mislabeling and substitution represent a significant economic and public health threat, unfairly undercutting domestic U.S. producers and compromise consumer trust. By leveraging cutting-edge molecular diagnostics, OLE can establish a robust, efficient, and science-driven enforcement capacity at U.S. ports of entry, thereby protecting the integrity of the U.S. seafood market.

2.0 Background and Objective

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for the stewardship of the nation's living marine resources and their habitats. NMFS Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) is responsible for the enforcement of federal laws and international treaties relative to marine fisheries, including the inspection of seafood imports at the Nation’s largest ports and investigation of seafood fraud and unlawful international trade.

The United States is the largest importer of seafood in the world by value, importing between $25-$30 billion annually. Combatting illegal trade and detection of seafood fraud is critical to prevent illegal products from entering U.S. commerce and creating unfair competition for America’s native seafood industry. Identification of species is an important component in regulating the international trade in marine fisheries products. Imports of various seafood products which are not readily identifiable, such as fish filets, fish products, derivatives, etc.

present challenges for enforcement to confirm species identification and legality of seafood imports.

3.0 Requirement

This section describes the general requirements for this effort.

In FY24 the United States imported more than 762 million kilograms of shrimp, valued at more than $6 billion, via 56,019 individual shipments. OLE has no capability to rapidly test to determine whether shrimp shipments are properly labeled as either farm-raised or wild caught. In The Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) identified tuna as one of the most non-compliant imported species of relevance to the program, often lacking chain of custody documents, legal origin or vessel information. Tuna is often subject to seafood fraud, mislabeling and trafficking due to its value and limited quotas. The requirement herein for the Base Year is to develop and validate a reliable, fast, accurate assay for white shrimp (Litopaneaeus vannamei) and various tuna species. Additional Option Years would address another species.

OLE needs to develop highly accurate, field-deployable species identification technology to support realtime decision-making aimed at intercepting mislabeled and illegal seafood products, thereby safeguarding the competitiveness of American seafood. Emerging technology includes the use of assays to perform rapid, targeted detection of species-specific DNA sequences, without the need for specialized equipment, pipetting, or refrigeration. Test results are made easily visually interpretable through a colorimetric reaction test strip, analogous to home tests for COVID19. The resulting assays provide accurate information on species identity within approximately 30 minutes without using complex laboratory equipment, enabling point-of-need verification of seafood products.

The kits will use specific technology, a specific CRISPR-based genetic identification platform developed primarily for fish and seafood species identification, to create the test strips for the kits. This contract will not use available mobile identification applications, but the COVID-like genome technology portion of the identification processes in the form of test kits. The technology uses genetic technology similar to what is desired.

4.0 Goals

● Shrimp Research & Development

● Tuna Species Research & Development

● Shrimp and Tuna Development to Production

● Optional Species Development

5.0 Requested Information

Contractors shall submit a Capability Statement to demonstrate how they meet the requirements of this Sources Sought notice. Please limit responses to five (5) pages. Standard brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this notice.

The submitted Capability Statement shall include the following:

1. Company Overview

a. Company Name and Address

b. A brief description of your company

c. Socioeconomic status, business size, and size standard/applicable North American Industry

Classification System (NAICS) codes.

d. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number and/or CAGE

2. Using specific and direct relevant examples, the interested vendor shall demonstrate capabilities with the goals identified above and the tasks outlined in the attached draft Statement of Need (SON).

6.0 Summary

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT REQUEST ONLY to identify sources that can provide completed sequence analysis, laboratory validation results and test kits to OLE. The information provided in the Sources Sought is subject to change and is not binding on NOAA. This is not a request for technical or cost proposals. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice or reimburse for costs incurred by interested parties providing the information requested herein. Information received will be considered solely to make an informed decision regarding a potential procurement and associated acquisition strategy. Responses to the Sources Sought notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by NOAA to form a binding contract. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Questions regarding this request or the SON must be submitted in writing no later than Friday, April 10, 2026 by Noon, Eastern Time, sent via email to jenna.tolman@noaa.gov and kristen.picariello@noaa.gov.

Capability statements must be submitted no later than Wednesday, April 15, 2026 by Noon, Eastern Time, sent via email to jenna.tolman@noaa.gov and to kristen.picariello@noaa.gov.

mailto:jenna.tolman@noaa.go mailto:kealie.chacon@noaa.gov

Emailed responses must be received in a supported Adobe or Microsoft Office file format. These formats are the only acceptable methods of submitting a response electronically. Zip Files, Cloud storage providers, Google docs, web based drop boxes, OneNote/OneDrive, URLs, web-based format, or any other virtual/web-based memory service are NOT acceptable methods of submitting a response electronically. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.