Fishery Observer Support Services for the Pacific Islands Region Observer Program

Added: Jun 14, 2018 4:02 pm Amendment A0005 is attached to this notice. This amendment provides an omitted item in the PWS. This amendment is only for the offerors remaining in the competitive range.

Added: Feb 15, 2018 4:17 pm Amendment A0004 is attached to this notice. This amendment provides instructions on the expired CBA.

Added: Dec 19, 2017 12:27 pm Amendment A0003 is attached to this notice. This amendment answers questions that have been submitted in response to the RFP.

Added: Dec 08, 2017 5:47 pm Amendment A002 is attached to this notice. The past performance questionnaire has been updated to include missing descriptions for the ratings.

Added: Dec 08, 2017 2:03 pm Amendment A0001 is attached to this notice. This amendment answers questions that have been submitted in response to the RFP.

Added: Nov 30, 2017 12:06 pm THIS IS A FINAL SOLICITATION NOTICE. This notice, in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.201, is posted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Western Acquisition Division (WAD), to announce the issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Pacific Islands Region Observer Program (PIROP).

The PIROP RFP is an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)solicitation set-aside for small business. The NAICS code for the RFP is 541690 with a business size standard of $15 million.

Please see the attached solicitation for detailed submission instructions and contact information.

Added: Nov 08, 2017 11:50 am Under an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1801-1884, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for administering a fish observer program in the state of Hawaii and the territory of American Samoa. The Pacific Islands Region Observer Program (PIROP) has been mandated in response to concerns regarding listed threatened and endangered sea turtles and other species that interact with deep-sea fishing operations.

NMFS' Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) is responsible for monitoring and obtaining estimates of incidental take of sea turtles, marine mammals and sea birds, along with bycatch information, for the pelagic longline fishery industry (pelagic fish are those that inhabit ocean areas relatively close to the surface). In order to meet its observer requirements, coverage will be provided by the Contractor as follows: for Hawaii based fishing vessels, (i) 100% observer coverage is required for all longline swordfish fishing trips, and (ii) observer coverage for an adequate percentage, as identified by the Government (currently 20%), of longline tuna fishing trips. For American Samoa, observer coverage is provided for a minimum of 20% of its entire longline fishing fleet.

Observers shall gather information concerning catch, bycatch, location, gear, fishing operations, and the interaction of protected species, particularly sea turtles, sea birds, and marine mammals. Observers shall also collect biological samples from species as necessary. Data collected shall include environmental conditions, geographical positions, catch, species, the number of sea turtles and marine mammals sighted, distance and direction of the animals with respect to the ship's transit, behavior of the animals and the number of protected species incidentally taken in longline fishing operations.

The proposed contract action is set-aside for small business. The NAICS code for this procurement is 541690 and the business size standard for this requirement is $15 million. It is highly encouraged that any vendor meeting this size standard and desiring to be considered for award be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) using this NAICS code or a NAICS code with an equivalent size standard. For additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: www.sam.gov. In order to register with the SAM, all offerors must also have a Dun & Bradstreet Number. A Dun & Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun & Bradstreet on-line at https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm or by phone at (866) 969-8491. It is also preferred that offerors to complete the electronic representations and certifications at the SAM website.

The resulting contract will be a single award Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) type contract with fixed rates for observer services and vessel reimbursement. Travel, training and equipment replacement will be reimbursed at cost. Solicitation documents will be made available for download on or about November 27, 2017 at http://www.fbo.gov/. Paper copies of this solicitation will not be issued. Interested parties should use the FedBizOpps [Add to Watchlist] and [Add Me to Interested Vendors] features which provide a notification when the Request for Proposal (RFP) becomes available for download as well as all postings of information associated with this solicitation thereafter. Each potential offeror is responsible for checking the FedBizOpps website to gain all current information related to the solicitation. The solicitation and any further announcements regarding the solicitation will be posted only at http://www.fbo.gov/. The date offers are due will be stated within the solicitation documents and will be adjusted based upon the actual release date of the solicitation. All questions of any nature regarding this procurement should be sent in writing to, Noah Nielsen at noah.nielsen@noaa.gov.