Apalachicola Bay Oyster Restoration

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is soliciting competitive bids through Invitation to Bid (ITB) FWC 25/26-55 for oyster restoration work in Apalachicola Bay, Franklin County, Florida. The procurement seeks a contractor to coordinate the complete acquisition, delivery, staging, and deployment of cultch material (oyster restoration substrate) via barge to establish two parallel oyster restoration reefs. The contractor must deploy a minimum of 26,666 cubic yards of cultch material—either uniformly sized concrete, mixed-layer concrete, or crushed lime rock—across two 100-yard by 300-yard restoration sites, each with a target height of 16 inches. All-inclusive pricing must be submitted on a per-cubic-yard basis and cover material costs, transportation, staging, and deployment to the designated restoration sites. Deliverables include provision of all staging areas, shallow-draft deck barges, vessels, equipment, and personnel necessary to complete the work in compliance with the Department of the Army Programmatic General Permit (PGP SAJ-99) and applicable environmental regulations. Required qualifications include demonstration of vessel operator capabilities with appropriate licensing, submission of a minimum of three professional references for similar barge deployment projects completed within the past eight years, registration with MyFloridaMarketPlace and SunBiz prior to bid opening, and compliance with insurance, E-Verify registration, and vendor certification requirements. Key schedule dates include a non-mandatory pre-bid conference on March 5, 2026, at 1:30 PM ET; written question submission deadline of March 12, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET with responses posted by March 18, 2026; sealed bid due date of March 25, 2026, at 1:30 PM ET with public opening at the same time; and an anticipated award date of March 31, 2026. Work must commence no later than two weeks after receiving the Notice to Proceed and must be completed by September 1, 2026, with cultch deployment permitted only from March 1 through September 30 annually on weekdays excluding state holidays between official sunrise and 30 minutes before official sunset Eastern Time.

The solicitation documents do not specify set-aside designations or restrictions limiting response to particular types of organizations, disadvantaged enterprises, or minority-owned businesses, indicating this is an open competitive procurement. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the available documentation. The contractor bears full responsibility for permitting compliance, material quality verification through laboratory assays, safety protocols, pollution prevention measures, and correction of deployment issues within 28 days of FWC notification. Payment is rendered in arrears upon completion and FWC verification of each restoration site, with potential payment reductions applied if cultch quantity falls below 13,333 cubic yards per site or final height specifications are not met. Liquidated damages of $100 per calendar day apply for delays beyond the September 1, 2026, deadline, though contractors may request one no-cost extension through September 30, 2026. No subcontracting is permitted under this contract. While no specific budget range or award value is disclosed in the solicitation documents, the contract term runs one year from Purchase Order issuance date, and the final award amount will depend on the all-inclusive per-cubic-yard pricing submitted by bidders and actual deployment quantities verified by FWC.