Apex Predators Program Coastal Shark Survey Vessel Charter

The Eastern Acquisition Division (EAD) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Norfolk, VA is soliciting quotes, on behalf of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for Apex Predators Program Coastal Shark Survey Vessel Charter.

The NMFS is seeking a vendor to provide a longline fishing vessel.  The vessel will be involved in conducting sampling of coastal sharks using bottom longline gear.  Specific objectives of this survey are to:  1) investigate the distribution, abundance, and species composition of sharks; 2) collect catch per effort data; 3) tag sharks for migration studies; 4) inject, with tetracycline, tagged sharks whenever feasible for age validation studies; 5) collect biological samples for age and growth, food habits and reproductive studies; and to 6) collect morphometric data.  Additional sets of pelagic longline gear will be made assuming the proper permitting is acquired and time permits.

This requirement is expected to result in a single award Firm-Fixed-Price contract.  The work will require up to 50 sea days during the period between April 6 and May 22, 2020. 

This is a 100% Total Small Business Set-aside. The applicable NAICS Code is 541715, Research and development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences, which has a corresponding size standard of 1000 employees.  The solicitation and proposed fixed-price contract will be issued utilizing FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Subpart 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items.  The Award will be made to the quoter whose quote meets all solicitation requirements and is judged to be the best value, by an integrated assessment of price and other evaluation factors listed in the Request for Quotation (RFQ).  The anticipated award date is March 2020.  The RFQ documents will be available approximately February 5, 2020.  Hard copies of the RFQ will not be issued.  It is incumbent upon contractors to monitor Beta.Sam.Gov for the release of the RFQ, Statement of Work, and all subsequent amendments.  To be eligible for award, quoters must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at www.sam.gov; quoters must also obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and provide it with the quote.  All responsible sources may submit a quote, which shall be considered by the agency.  For information concerning this acquisition, please forward inquiries via e-mail to Roberta Smith, Contract Specialist at roberta.h.smith@noaa.gov.