NWW Biological Services Trap and Transport

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District is seeking interested business sources for a Service contract entitled: NWW Biological Services Trap and Transport. The contractor will provide quality assurance and fish sampling functions for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Juvenile Fish biological services and Transportation Program for the base year (2025) and one option year (2026) at Lower Granite and Little Goose dams.  This contract also includes biological services in support of juvenile bypass system operations at Ice Harbor and McNary dams for the base year (2025) and option year (2026). Services at McNary Dam includes temperature monitoring each year from June 15 to August 31.  The annual performance period is from 5 February to 12 November. This will be a firm-fixed-price service contract. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this project is 541690 Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services, and the associated small business size standard is $19 Million.

This sources-sought notice is a tool to identify businesses with the interest in and capability to accomplish the work. Please respond only if you intend to propose on this project when it is solicited in the future. This is not a solicitation.

Responses to this Sources Sought notice should include the following information: 

1. Indicate your company’s ability to provide the biological services detailed below.
2. The company’s cage code and Unique Entity ID (UEI).
3. Clearly confirm that your company business size as Large Business, Small Business, and if applicable, designation as HUBZone, 8(a), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Business.

This Sources Sought notice is for market research and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to pay for information submitted in response to this request. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the market analysis and debriefings will not be available. It is the reader's responsibility to monitor the Government Point of Entry (GPE) via sam.gov Contract Opportunities for any resultant or future solicitation package(s) that may be issued.

Submit this information to Melita Doyle, Contract Specialist, via email to melita.s.doyle@usace.army.mil.  Your response to this notice must be received on or before 3:00 pm (local time) on 03 October 2024.

Summary of Scope of Work:

The Contractor shall provide biologists to participate directly in the juvenile fish bypass sampling, collection, and transportation programs at Lower Granite Dam (located near Pomeroy, Washington) and Little Goose Dam (located near Starbuck, Washington). The Contractor shall provide one biologist at each project, eight hours per day on a daily basis (seven days per week), through the course of the contract work period. The Contractor’s biologists will work closely with the USACE biologist responsible for the juvenile fish collection and transportation facilities at each dam.

The contractor must have an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service which enables the Contractor to anesthetize and sample juvenile fish of all ESA listed stocks that may be encountered at the projects. Permits must authorize the taking of the listed stocks at both of USACE juvenile fish transportation projects and must include a large enough take allowance to cover the anticipated number of listed species handled in the daily samples at each project. The contractor must have on hand the necessary permits prior to the commencement of work. Work may be performed under an existing permit held by another entity, as long as the entity agrees to do so under conditions acceptable to USACE.

The contractor must have permits from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) which enables the Contractor to anesthetize and sample juvenile fish stocks at all three of the USACE juvenile fish transportation projects. The permits must authorize the taking of the listed stocks and incidental stocks in the USACE juvenile fish transportation projects Bypass System and must include a large enough take allowance to cover the anticipated number of listed species handled during the contract period.

The Contractor shall be responsible for all handling and sampling of juvenile fish insofar as it affects the welfare of the fish. The Contractor shall participate in the daily project sampling activities alongside personnel from various fish agencies sampling fish under Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) Smolt Monitoring Program (SMP). The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that fish are sampled according to criteria specified in the USACE Fish Passage Plan (FPP). The Contractor shall anesthetize and handle fish in the daily sample to determine the total number of fish in the sample, species composition, average weight of the fish, and descaling and injury rates. These activities will usually occur simultaneously with other facility activities including truck or barge loading. The sample information will be used by USACE project biologist to determine adherence to the loading criteria contained in the USACE FPP. The Contractor may be requested to scan fish mortalities for coded wire tags or passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and upload them to PTAGIS. The Contractor shall measure the length and weight of any bull trout found within the sample, followed by inserting PIT tags and uploading information to PTAGIS (likely to be less than 10 bull trout/year). The Contractor will supply a total of 10 kilograms of the necessary fish anesthetic total per year (tricaine methanesulfonate, MS-222) needed for sampling fish at Lower Granite and Little Goose dams. The contractor is encouraged to work with the BPA SMP for the anesthetic procurement to acquire a quantity discount for the SMP and USACE anesthetic needs. Cost for the fish anesthetic to the contractor will be reimbursed by USACE. Any fish anesthetic (tricaine methanesulfonate, MS-222) which remains unused at the end of the contract shall become property of the US Government.