SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Loggerhead Sea Turtle Density Project
- Notice Date
- 6/24/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisition Division, Norfolk Federal Building, 200 Granby Street, Norfolk, Virginia, 23510, United States
- ZIP Code
- 23510
- Solicitation Number
- NFFM7320-15-02637
- Archive Date
- 7/16/2015
- Point of Contact
- Kelly A. Taranto, Phone: 508-495-2312, Susan Henderson, Phone: 508-495-2206
- E-Mail Address
-
kelly.taranto@noaa.gov, Susan.Henderson@noaa.gov
(kelly.taranto@noaa.gov, Susan.Henderson@noaa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY - Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government. The intent of this announcement and the information provided in response to this notice will assist the Government in identify ALL potential sources to include small businesses and socio-economic sources that are capable and qualified to furnish the required products and services as identified in the Requirements section of this announcement. The North American Industry Classification system (NAICS) Code is 541712. The anticipated dollar value of this project is under $150,000. Please include your company's size classification in any response to this notice. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Woods Hole, MA is soliciting information, on behalf of the Protected Species Branch for research necessary to continue the Loggerhead sea turtle density project. BACKGROUND As part of the current Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species (AMAPPS) project as well as historic NOAA projects, millions of dollars have been spent on line transect aerial surveys. Historically the aerial surveys were flown once a year in the summer, but more recently AMAPPS has supported survey effort in non-summer seasons. However, even with the additional AMAPPS investment, the survey efforts remain mere snapshots in time, with sampling in a particular region typically occurring only once a year at most. While analysis of aerial line transect surveys may produce density estimates for the discrete time period of the survey, there is little evidence that this snapshot sampling approach can be effectively used to predict animal density outside of the short sampling period. Given federal interest in predicting turtle density throughout the year to assess the potential incidental turtle take associated with the operation of federal fisheries, renewable energy platforms, oil and gas extraction, and power plants, this is a major shortcoming Combining multiple independently-collected data sources can produce more reliable density estimates. Satellite-relayed data about loggerhead behavior can be used to fill in the temporal gaps left by infrequent, discontinuous line transect survey efforts. In contrast to once-a-year aerial surveys, satellite tags sample turtle behavior every day of the year, and can represent the location of animals even as transient relationships with the environment (e.g., salinity, depth, etc.) change with physiological demands imposed by migrations and fluctuating food sources. Together with other collaborators, NOAA has a long-term research plan to combine aerial survey line transect data with satellite telemetry and bycatch rate data to produce more reliable estimates of animal density through time. The NEFSC is seeking to produce relative density maps based on tracks from over 60 satellite tags deployed on loggerheads in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region (Long Island to North Carolina) from 2009 to 2014. In addition to serving as input into a future model to estimate loggerhead density from multiple data sources (line transect, bycatch, satellite telemetry), the relative density maps resulting from research in this project could be immediately used for management decisions which would benefit from spatial-temporal information on loggerhead density. The objective of this project is to produce a manuscript that uses data from satellite relayed data loggers (called ‘tag data’) to estimate the distribution of large juvenile and adult loggerhead sea turtles in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. REQUIREMENTS The contractor shall prepare journal-style manuscripts as well as all data organization, data manipulation, literature searches, method selection, and statistical analysis that would typically be associated with the publication of a paper in a high quality scientific journal. The manuscript should include an appropriate Discussion which states relevant interpretations and opinions, documents uncertainty and any scientifically-relevant shortcomings or obstacles, reveals the limitations, explains the results in light of what was already known, explains our new understanding of the problem after taking the results into consideration, and make suggestions for future research. The contractor shall use information from all data supplied by NMFS that meet data quality standards, based on the expert opinion of the contractor, NEFSC, and other collaborators. The spatial extent of all final model results shall be limited to areas where reasonable confidence in modeled estimates exists, based on the expert opinion of the contractor, NEFSC, and other collaborators. The contractor shall have experience working with data from Sea Mammal Research Unit Satellite relayed data loggers, particularly from tags deployed on loggerhead sea turtles to include extensive experience with modeling, particularly related to spatial analysis. The Government prefers contractors that have authored publications in the following areas related to: · spatial dynamics and/or predicting seasonal distributions · estimating density and population size · highly migratory marine animals · dealing with uncertainty extensively and explicitly · climate change, particularly in relation to effects on animal distribution · complex models which use input from fishery-dependent and fishery-independent sources TASKS: Task 1 – Preparing manuscript using satellite tag data to estimate the distribution of loggerhead sea turtles in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. NEFSC will supply the tag data to be used in the analysis. At a minimum, the dataset will include data from 60 Sea Mammal Research Unit satellite relayed data loggers. Data from many more tags (possibly well over 100 tags) may be available by the time an award is made. The contractor will use appropriate statistical approaches to estimate the distribution of loggerheads using at least two different methodologies (Part A and B below) to be provided by the Government. Task 2 – Preparing manuscript combining satellite tag data, bycatch data, and line transect survey data to estimate the distribution and density of loggerhead sea turtles in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. This work will build off of Task 1 by using the result of Task 1 as input into the analysis in Task 2. The period of performance for each task is approximately 13 months. The NOAA Fisheries is seeking the following information: CAPABILITIES PACKAGE: All interested parties shall submit a capabilities package explicitly demonstrate the ability to provide the requirements as specified in this announcement. Relevant past performance under contracts or efforts (within the past 3 years) that is of the same or similar scope, magnitude, and complexity to that which is described in this sources sought notice. Include a list of a minimum of three (3) current or previous contracts performed within the last three (3) years that are of a similar nature to this request and include: contract number, name and address of the Government agency or commercial entity, description of work and services provided, point of contact with current phone number and e-mail address, date of contract award, period of performance, initial and current contract value, and the extent of subcontracting. The capabilities package shall be emailed to kelly.taranto@noaa.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.. All response and response contents to this notice will be considered information only and will not be binding on the parties. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States government. Responses to this notice are due via email to kelly.taranto@noaa.gov no later than July 1, 2015 at 2:00 p.m (Eastern Time). Only electronic submissions will be allowed or by the below fax number. Point of Contact is Kelly Taranto, Contracting Officer at (508) 495-2004 or kelly.taranto@noaa.gov. Alternate point of contact is Susan Henderson, Contracting Officer at susan.henderson@noaa.gov. No telephone responses will be accepted.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/EASC/NFFM7320-15-02637/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: NORTHEAST FISHERIES SCIENCE CENTER, 166 WATER STREET, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, United States
- Zip Code: 02543
- Zip Code: 02543
- Record
- SN03774325-W 20150626/150624234730-99481590975a72855af99d92ad01e715 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |