STATEMENT OF WORK.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) transceiver hardware for OLE PID

1. Organization The Pacific Islands Division (PID) of the Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC), is a government agency charged with the mission of enforcing laws, regulations and conservation measures supporting stewardship for living marine resources.

1. Background The PID provides administrative and technical support to manage and operate the Pacific region portion of the national Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) used by the US Government to monitor commercial fishing and other vessels required by Federal Regulations for the purpose of enforcement. Under regulations at CFR Title 50, Subpart A, Section 665.19, OLE is required to procure, install, maintain, repair, and replace VMS transceivers for the Hawaii and American Samoa Longline Limited Entry permit holders. Most of those permit holders are also required, under regulations at CFR Title 50, Subpart O, Section 300.219 (b), (c), and (c)(iii), to transmit their positions by VMS to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) VMS. Most of those permit holders are also required, under regulations at CFR Title 50, Subpart A, Section 665.14 (b), (1), (ii), (A), to transmit their electronic logbook data by VMS daily to the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC).

A critical component of managing this task is to conduct reasonable, regular, sustainable, life-cycle replacement of at-sea-deployed VMS hardware. The standard for replacement of such at-sea electronics gear is generally 3-5 years (varying depending upon conditions of use, hardware component durability, and other factors). In PID’s life-cycle management plan, we have opted for the most fiscally conservative end of this range (5 years, or approximately 20% of inventory each year). This rate supports an annual procurement of approximately thirty-five (35) VMS units (see details at section 3.0 below).

To be considered for this procurement, the VMS unit model must be listed on the subset of units listed on both the “U.S. Fisheries of the Western and Central Pacific Islands” sub-section of the US list at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/enforcement/noaa-fisheries-type-approved-vms-units, and the WCPFC list at https://www.wcpfc.int/doc/wcpfc-approved-list-current). To be considered for this procurement, the VMS unit model must also be currently approved by the PIFSC (see point of contact at paragraph 4, below) for transmission of electronic logbook (e-logbook) data.

Since units purchased under this procurement action will be government-owned and operated, unlike other US fisheries/regions where VMS units are not government-owned, the government may consider factors in addition to the initial hardware cost (including, but not limited to: compatibility with anticipated operating environment; out-of-the-box compatibility with the PIFSC e-logbooks program / requirements; US and WCPFC airtime costs, if any; and specifically including airtime costs, if any, to transmit e-logbook data; any other operational costs; anticipated maintenance costs; non-airtime or non-operational fees, such as activation/deactivation fees; and past experience with the vendor’s customer service / response).

OLE PID seeks to contract for thirty-five (35) type-approved VMS units, to include shipping (to Honolulu). Note that, in order to meet the full range of federal permits and associated VMS requirements in this region, OLE PID government-procured VMS units must, with few exceptions, successfully transmit hourly position reports not only to OLE’s system, but also to the WCPFC VMS (to be compliant with the WCPFC Implementation Act), and must successfully transmit daily e-logbook data reports to PIFSC. Products not proven capable of ensuring successful reporting of these requirements may not be considered for this procurement action.

2.1 Issues

Approximately 25% of the current inventory of relevant VMS units (approximately 165 units) are in, or will be within the previously-outlined generally-accepted replacement range, and approximately 49% of current inventory are, or will soon be out of warranty. Labor costs for maintenance continue to make it cost-beneficial to the government to undertake this procurement near-term.

2.2 Benefits

Implementation of this proposal will ameliorate substantial VMS maintenance, operational and fiscal issues. Specifically, under this proposal, the repair costs (aside from macro inflation) for VMS units should continue to recede, and depending on the selected vendor warranty, may remain substantially reduced for the foreseeable future. Operationally, implementation of this proposal will ensure compliance of the regulated commercial fishing fleets with relevant VMS federal regulations (including those required under the WCPFC Implementation Act), and importantly, do so without impeding their legitimate commerce / livelihoods. This procurement is also expected to directly support the recent Council action culminating seven years of close interagency (all stakeholders) cooperation to require these vessels to report fisheries logbook data electronically near-real-time at sea, which will benefit all stakeholders, specifically including OLE’s enforcement mission, in years to come.

1. Service Required The requirements to meet our objectives will include the following:

1. Approximately thirty-five (35) NMFS & WCPFC type-approved VMS units (EMTUs) capable of successfully transmitting e-logbook data to PIFSC.

1. Type-approved hardware sufficient to successfully install and sustainably operate[footnoteRef:1] the VMS transceiver on a typical Hawaii or American Samoa Longline vessel, to include transceiver unit, antenna(s), antenna cable (minimum 45 feet long), water sealant, power cable (minimum 15 feet long)/converter/conditioner, mounting brackets, and any other accessories necessary for reliable hourly position reporting. [1: See end note in 2.0 Background section above for details on WCPFC Implementation Act operational requirements.]

1. EMTUs must be capable of allowing input of, and successfully communicating to the VMS unit, PIFSC-approved / managed electronic forms data (on an Android OS tablet) that meets PIFSC e-logbook requirements[footnoteRef:2], (vendors are invited to specify tablet technical details in proposals). [2: See Section 4.0 below for PIFSC e-logbook Points of Contact.]

1. Delivery, between approximately 1-30 July 2023, of the above hardware / materials to OLE PID or its local designee. Shipping and Insurance charges (pre-pay and add to invoice supported by freight bill) to Honolulu.

1. Delivery of replacement hardware / materials (same specs as above) to OLE PID, within eight (8) working days from a warranty assessment indicating warranty replacement required. Warranty replacement will generally be determined by the OLE PID’s contracted marine electronics vendor (currently Commercial Marine Electronics (CME)) in coordination with the VMS hardware vendor. Shipping and Insurance charges (pre-pay and add to invoice supported by freight bill) to Honolulu (note: OLE PID will be responsible for any shipment of hardware / materials between Honolulu and American Samoa).

1. Warranty work within the warranty period, including labor and work materials for on-site / on-vessel VMS maintenance in port, in Honolulu, Hawaii -- approximately 90% of projected labor and materials, or in Pago Pago, American Samoa -- approximately 10% of projected labor and materials, within the following response criteria:

1. For vessels requiring warranty repair or replacement of an existing VMS unit, installation completed normally within 5 working days (but not to exceed 10 working days) of notification to the VMS hardware vendor by OLE PID. Note: “completed” defined as fully installed and operational on the designated fishing vessel with position reports being verifiably received by OLE PID and WCPFC and e-logbook data received by PIFSC.

1. Labor for warranty replacements will include, at no additional charge, removal and return to OLE PID (or destruction, at OLE PID’s discretion) of any previously-installed (ie., “replaced”) government-owned VMS unit (and associated cabling / equipment). Note that “return to OLE PID”, for vessels home-ported in American Samoa, means return to OLE PID’s American Samoa office (not Honolulu).

1. Vendors are invited to provide cost options for:

1. Two-year parts and labor warranty

1. Three-year parts and labor warranty

1. Four-year parts and labor warranty

1. Since these VMS units will be government-owned equipment, and satellite airtime charges for hourly position reports will be paid by OLE’s national contract / purchase order, no credit card from OLE PID or vessel owners/operators will be required by the vendor for VMS activation / operation.

1. Also, though OLE will, under separate arrangements not covered by this procurement, pay for any recurring satellite position-report airtime charges, and PIFSC may, under separate arrangements not covered by this procurement, pay for any recurring satellite e-logbook data airtime charges, vendors are requested to specify in their quotes, as estimated operational costs:

6. Anticipated per-vessel monthly satellite airtime charges for hourly position reporting

6. Anticipated per-vessel monthly satellite airtime charges, if any, for transmitting (approximately daily) e-logbook data

6. whether “activation” or “deactivation” charges will be levied to render installed VMS units operational or non-operational, and if so, the per-unit/event cost.

1. Points of Contact The primary PID technical point of contact (POC) will be Terry Boone (or his designee(s)). The POC (or designee) will accept delivery, perform inspection and coordinate installation as required.

Terry Boone

NOAA-IRC/NMFS/OLE

1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176 Honolulu, Hawaii 96818 Office: 808-725-6110, Email: Terry.Boone@noaa.gov

The primary PID contracting point of contact (POC) will be Bonnie Oshiro (or her designee(s)).

Bonnie Oshiro

NOAA-IRC/NMFS/OLE

1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176 Honolulu, Hawaii 96818 Office: 808-725-6105, Email: Bonnie.Oshiro@noaa.gov

The primary PIFSC point of contact (POC) for e-logbooks will be Keith Bigelow (or his designee(s)).

NOAA-IRC/NMFS/PIFSC

1845 Wasp Blvd., Building 176 Honolulu, Hawaii 96818 Office: 808-725-5388, Email: Keith.Bigelow@noaa.gov