FD23-190 NAICS:334511 1,250 ***The Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the NOAA Fisheries Atlantic HMS Management Division requires 40 pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) in order to study the post-release movements and mortality of sharks discarded in the shark bottom longline fishery. These tags are needed to support the FY23 FIS/ET program award for the project entitled, Assessing the feasibility of electronic monitoring (EM) sensor technology to record soak time in bottom longline fisheries, Phase II. The project is expected to begin in April 2023. The project will use PSATs to quantify the effect of fishing gear soak time on the survival or mortality of released sharks.

***The sole source determination is based on the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) NMFS Atlantic HMS Management Division having a research program conducting research with Satellite Archival Tags (PSAT). The supporting rationale for this single source is compatibility to existing equipment and only one source is capable. Similar PSAT products are offered by two manufacturers, Lotek Wireless and Wildlife Computers. Both have been used in post-release mortality studies on fishes, and software and data analysis tools are available for both. However, the Wildlife Computers product (Model sPAT) uses a proprietary algorithm to determine the fate (alive or dead) of the released animal, and a brief snapshot (a few days) of depth and temperature measurements recorded by the tag preceding a mortality event. The Lotek Wireless product (Model PSAT LIFE) provides the full dataset of depth, temperature, and timestamps in a time series format (every 5 minutes) for the entire deployment (up to 28 days), permitting the researcher to examine the data and draw their own conclusion on the fate of the animal. Only the Lotek Wireless PSAT LIFE model permits the analysis of the recovery period of surviving sharks, as well as the reconstruction of horizontal and vertical movements throughout the tag deployment. Furthermore, the Atlantic HMS Management Division already has statistical analysis code for Lotek Wireless PSATs. Using the Wildlife Computers product would require NMFS to develop a new statistical analysis code to examine the data, which would still not provide the data necessary to fulfill all objectives of the project and would not be consistent with existing data sets.

Only the Lotek Wireless PSAT LIFE tag model is capable of meeting all of the required elements of the research project described above. The competing Wildlife Computers sPAT tag model is capable of identifying the mortality or survival of released sharks, but not the recovery period, or the movements, depth, and temperature of the shark throughout the 2-4 week post-release phase. Without the Lotek Wireless PSAT LIFE tag, there would be insufficient data to successfully complete the project and meet all of the proposed objectives. This limitation would undermine the ability of the Atlantic HMS Management Division to fully complete the project and meet its obligations under the FIS/ET award. Due to the extremely specialized technical scope required to meet the needs of this project, there are very few product options available in the market. The government conducted market research on two similar PSAT products available from two manufacturers, Lotek Wireless and Wildlife Computers. The government reviewed product descriptions available on each manufacturer’s website and spoke with product experts and sales staff from each. As described above, the Lotek Wireless PSAT LIFE tag model meets all of the requirements of our project, whereas the Wildlife Computers sPAT tag model does not.

***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 Andrea.Talbert@noaa.govwithin 15 days of 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.

Attachments: Single Source