Invasive Carp Modeling in Lake St. Clair, Detroit River and Thames River

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through its Western Acquisition Division-Boulder, has issued a Special Notice regarding its intent to negotiate a sole source contract with Brenton Consulting LLC of Northville, Michigan. The contract involves producing a technical report on the potential effects of invasive carp on the Lake St. Clair and Detroit/Thames Rivers food web. NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) has determined that Brenton Consulting LLC is the only known source with the specific experience required for this specialized work. The company has previously modeled invasive carp effects on the Illinois River food web and the Maumee River and Western Lake Erie, and NOAA is now expanding this work to include the Detroit and Thames Rivers and Lake St. Clair. The period of performance extends from the date of award through August 14, 2026.

The Special Notice serves as notification of NOAA's sole source procurement intent under FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) authority, based on Brenton Consulting's unique expertise in multispecies individual-based bioenergetics modeling (IBM) to simulate invasive species impacts on the Great Lakes. The notice explicitly states it is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation package is available. However, other firms believing they can fully meet the government's requirements may submit substantiating documentation within 15 days of the notice's publication date of August 22, 2025, making the response deadline September 5, 2025. Any submitted documentation will be evaluated solely to determine whether the procurement should be conducted competitively rather than on a sole source basis. Oral communications are not acceptable responses, and the government retains complete discretion in deciding whether to maintain the sole source approach based on any responses received.