Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road,Mail Stop 285, Menlo Park, CA 94025-3591

B -- MULTITAXOMICAL STUDY IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND SOL n/a DUE 040700 POC Roy Gilbert (650)329-4177 E-MAIL: The following individual should be contacted for additional, rgilbert@usgs.gov. The U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, Alaska Biological Science Center has a requirement for the close-out of the Nearshore Vertebrate Predator Project (NVP)from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) in Prince William Sound. The NVP is a multitaxomical study of ecological processes that may be inhibiting recovery of known injured resources within the Sound. For the past five years and in association with sea otter biologists at he Alaska Biological Science Center, Coastal Resources Associates, Inc. has collected marine invertebrate data to test the hypothesis that the recovery of sea otters injured by the EVOS may be costrained by availablility of prey. This contract will allow funding for final analysis and synthesis of all five years of data, collaboration with 14 other Principle investigators in preparing scientific manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed Journals, and revisions of the 1999 NVP Final Report following receipt of review comments. This is an anticipated sole sourceby the authority of FAR 6.3 and 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1). Posted 03/30/00 (W-SN439647). (0090)

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