SPECIAL NOTICE
F -- Marine Mammal Assessment
- Notice Date
- 7/14/2023 9:05:38 AM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541715
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- DEPT OF COMMERCE NOAA SEATTLE WA 98115 USA
- ZIP Code
- 98115
- Solicitation Number
- NFFM7320-23-02580GLP
- Response Due
- 7/29/2023 12:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 07/30/2023
- Point of Contact
- Grace LaPierre, Phone: 2065264382
- E-Mail Address
-
grace.lapierre@noaa.gov
(grace.lapierre@noaa.gov)
- Description
- ***NOAA'S ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, WESTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-SEATTLE, NORTHEAST FISHERIES SCIENCE CENTER (NEFSC) INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), WITH THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES (CCS) OUT OF PROVINCETOWN, MA, TO PURCHASE NON-PERSONAL SERVICES FOR MARINE MAMMAL ASSESSMENT, INCLUDING DATA COLLECTION, GENOMIC ANALYSIS, UPDATING OF PHOTO IDENTIFICATION CATALOGS, AND PROVIDING VESSEL SUPPORT. ***THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION'S (NOAA) REQUIREMENT THAT THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES IS THE SOLE SOURCE THAT CAN PROVIDE THE REQUIRED SERVICES AT THE LEVEL OF QUALITY NECESSARY DUE TO THE FOLLOWING REASONS: TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: THIS PARTICULAR SOURCE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE REQUIREMENT AND MARKET RESEARCH INDICATES SIMILAR PROVIDERS DO NOT MEET OR CANNOT MEET AGENCY NEEDS. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER PROVIDERS THAT PROVIDE SERVICES RELATED TO MARINE RESEARCH, HOWEVER, THERE IS NO PROVIDOR THAT IS EQUIVALENT TO THE CENTER OF COASTAL STUDIES AND WOULD FULLY MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF NEFSC�S RESEARCH. THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES IS UNIQUELY QUALIFIED TO UNDERTAKE THIS RESEARCH. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, DR. JOOKE ROBBINS, HAS LED GOM HUMPBACK WHALE RESEARCH IN THIS REGION FOR DECADES. DR. ROBBINS HAS METICULOUSLY DEVELOPED A MULTI-DECADE DATA BASE FOR PHOTO-IDENTIFIED INDIVIDUAL HUMPBACK WHALES IN THIS SUBPOPULATION, DIRECTED SURVEYS TO REGULARLY �CATCH� MEMBERS OF THIS DEME AND IS AN EXPERT ON THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND VARIABLE SPACE-USE PATTERNS OF THE STOCK. FURTHER, DR. ROBBINS IS HIGHLY SKILLED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOGRAPHIC PARAMETER ESTIMATES WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE OBSERVATION PROCESSES USED TO EVALUATE THE STATUS OF THIS STOCK. DR. ROBBINS WORKS CLOSELY WITH THE CURATORS OF THE NAHWC, AS WELL AS WITH DR. PER PALSB�LL, WHO HAS SPECIALIZED TRAINING IN ADVANCED GENETIC TECHNIQUES, AS WELL AS A COMPLETE LIBRARY OF GENETIC SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS. THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES ALSO HAS AN ACTIVE PINNIPED RESEARCH PROGRAM, AND IS IDEALLY SITUATED TO CONDUCT FIELD EXPEDITIONS WITH THE APPROPRIATE VESSELS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON WHEN TARGET SPECIES ARE IN THE AREA. THERE IS NO OTHER RESEARCH ENTITY CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THESE SERVICES WITH THE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL COVERAGE, AS WELL AS FIELD EXPERTISE OF CCS AND DR. ROBBINS' RESEARCH GROUP. NO VENDORS WITHIN THE REGION ARE ABLE TO OFFER THE FULL SUITE OF SERVICES THAT ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS PROJECT, INCLUDING A SUITABLE VESSEL PLATFORM TO CONDUCT THE WORK IN NEARSHORE AND OFFSHORE ENVIRONMENTS, THE STAFF EXPERIENCED WITH THE NECESSARY FIELD DATA COLLECTION, AND THE FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION TO CARRY OUT THE REQUIRED ACTIVITIES. CCS STAFF HAVE DEVELOPED ROBUST EXPERIENCE RELEVANT TO FIELD DATA COLLECTION WITH BALEEN WHALES AND PINNIPEDS. THEY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO PUBLISHED PHOTO-ID AND GENETIC RESEARCH ON HUMPBACK WHALES, AND CURATE A MULTI-DECADAL GENETIC AND PHOTO IDENTIFICATION CATALOG THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THIS STUDY; THOSE DATA DO NOT EXIST ELSEWHERE. FINALLY, CCS MAINTAINS A CLOSE COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH ALLIED WHALE, CURATOR OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC HUMPBACK WHALE CATALOG. MOREOVER, CCS MAINTAINS AND OPERATES SPECIALIZED VESSELS FOR PINNIPED CAPTURES AND FIELD DATA COLLECTION AND STAFF HAVE PRIOR EXPERIENCE CAPTURING AND HANDLING PINNIPEDS WITH NEFSC SCIENTISTS. SCIENTISTS AT CCS ALSO SERVE AS CO-PIS UNDER THE NEFSC�S MMPA SEAL RESEARCH PERMIT. MISSION IMPACT- IF NOAA DOES NOT PURCHASE THE MARINE ASSESSMENT SERVICES FROM THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES THE MISSION IMPACTS MAY INCLUDE: INABILITY TO COMPLETE OBJECTIVES: THE MISSION IMPACT OF NOT OBTAINING THE SOLICITED MARINE MAMMAL ASSESSMENT SERVICES WOULD THAT THE PRIMARY TASK MAY NOT BE COMPLETED. THE SUCCESS OF THE PRIMARY TASKS FOR THIS PROJECT HINGES ON OBTAINING A LARGE, REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF IDENTIFIED INDIVIDUAL HUMPBACK WHALES FROM THE GULF OF MAINE. CCS IS THE ONLY ORGANIZATION WITH A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF PERFORMING DIRECTED HUMPBACK WHALE RESEARCH ACROSS THE FEEDING RANGE OF THE POPULATION, HAVING DONE SUCH WORK ANNUALLY SINCE 1989. CCS STAFF HAVE THE SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE AND VESSELS NECESSARY TO SUCCESSFULLY LOCATE AND SAMPLE HUMPBACKS, INCLUDING IN OFFSHORE AREAS. CCS STAFF CAN IDENTIFY CATALOGED HUMPBACK WHALES ON SIGHT, WHICH GREATLY INCREASES THE EFFICIENCY WITH WHICH ANIMALS PHOTOGRAPHED BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE GULF OF MAINE CAN BE SAMPLED AND MATCHED. THEIR FIELD EXPERTISE ALSO INCLUDES SAMPLING NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES, AND THEIR SURVEY AREA WITHIN THE GULF OF MAINE WILL COVER IMPORTANT HABITAT FOR WHICH RIGHT WHALE OCCURRENCE IN THE SUMMER IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. ADDITIONALLY, DR. PER PALSB�LL AND MARTINE B�RUB� ARE ADJUNCT SCIENTISTS WITH CCS AND MAINTAIN THE LARGEST GENETIC ARCHIVE OF HUMPBACK WHALE SAMPLES FOR THE US EAST COAST AND THE OVERALL NORTH ATLANTIC (MARINE EVOLUTION AND CONSERVATION GROUP, UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS), AND ARE PIONEERS IN DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF GENETIC TECHNIQUES TO UNDERSTAND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF BALEEN WHALES. ALSO OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE TO THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT IS THE FACT THAT THIS GROUP IS BASED LOCALLY, WHICH WILL ALLOW THEM TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF INTERMITTENT WEATHER WINDOWS TO CONDUCT THE FIELD RESEARCH. INCREASED COSTS: CCS� UNIQUE SITUATION WOULD ALLOW THEIR LOCALLY-BASED TEAM TO CONDUCT FIELD RESEARCH DURING GOOD WEATHER PERIODS, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE PEAK OCCURRENCE OF THE TARGET SPECIES IN LOCAL WATERS, WITHOUT INCURRING ADDITIONAL TRAVEL COSTS. IN CONCLUSION, GIVEN THE UNIQUE TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES OF THE CENTER FOR COASTAL (CCS) STUDIES, THEY ARE THE ONLY SOURCE CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE REQUIRED SERVICES AT THE LEVEL OF QUALITY NECESSARY. ENGAGING A DIFFERENT PROVIDER WOULD RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT MISSION IMPACTS, INCLUDING INCREASED COSTS AND THE INABILITY TO CONDUCT MANY OF THE MISSION OBJECTIVES DUE TO LACK OF EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE. A COMPREHENSIVE ONLINE SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL SOURCES CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE SERVICE REQUIRED FOR THE NEFSC MARINE MAMMAL ASSESSMENT. THE GOAL WAS TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL PROVIDERS WHO MET SPECIFIC TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS AND HELD NECESSARY EXPERIENCE TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THE STUDY. THIS RESEARCH INCLUDED REVIEWING INDUSTRY PUBLICATIONS, RELEVANT FORUMS, AND ONLINE DATABASES TO GATHER INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL VENDORS, THEIR CAPABILITIES, AND EXPERIENCE. BASED ON MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES IS THE ONLY SOURCE CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE REQUIRED SERVICES AT THE LEVEL OF QUALITY NECESSARY FOR THE SURVEY. THE RESEARCH REVEALED THAT WHILE THERE ARE OTHER PROVIDERS IN THE MARKET OFFERING SERVICES RELATED TO MARINE MAMMALS, NO PROVIDERS OF SIMILAR QUALITY WERE FOUND. NONE POSSESS THE UNIQUE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE NECESSARY FOR SUCH A SPECIFIC STUDY. AS A RESULT, THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES WAS DEEMED THE MOST SUITABLE PROVIDER FOR THIS PROJECT, AND ENGAGING A DIFFERENT SOURCE WOULD LIKELY RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT MISSION IMPACTS. ***THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS AND NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, FIRMS THAT BELIEVE THEY CAN FULLY MEET THE GOVERNMENT'S REQUIREMENTS MAY SUBMIT SUBSTANTIATING DOCUMENTATION IN WRITING TO THE IDENTIFIED POINT OF CONTACT WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION OF THIS SYNOPSIS. SUCH DOCUMENTATION WILL BE EVALUATED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT THIS PROCUREMENT ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS. A DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO CONDUCT A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT, BASED UPON RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE, IS SOLELY WITHIN THE DISCRETION OF THE GOVERNMENT. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.
- Web Link
-
SAM.gov Permalink
(https://sam.gov/opp/ec590bf7abfe477785ff7ba5522a2d40/view)
- Place of Performance
- Address: USA
- Country: USA
- Country: USA
- Record
- SN06748977-F 20230716/230714230038 (samdaily.us)
- Source
-
SAM.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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