Deep-water Fishery Independent Survey of Reef Fishes in Puerto Rico

NOTICE OF INTENT TO NEGOTIATE A SINGLE-SOURCE CONTRACT Special Notice:FD-2022-327 NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC In compliance with FAR Subpart 13 coupled with the provisions set forth by FAR Subpart 5.101(a)(1), this Notice is hereby published to inform of the following: The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with HJR Reefscaping Using the procedures of FAR Part 13 the requirement is to procure the following: The scientific and technical consulting contractor shall provide vessels, captains, and observers that meet the specifications outlined in this document. The vessels will be used in performing deployment and retrieval of hook and line fishing equipment at each station and acquiring biological samples and general fish information of targeted and incidental catch. The applicable Size Standard is North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code483112with a Small business size standard of1500 This project builds off of previously awarded contracts that Hector Jose Ruiz Torres is either currently conducting, or conducted in past years. In order to ensure the success of this project, the methods must remain standardized and usable in analysis, and the gear must be deployed using the same standardized approach as used in previous years. Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. The goal of this project is to implement a fishery-independent survey island-wide for mid- to deep-water reef-fishes in Puerto Rico (50 - 450 m), within 12 miles of coast and 20 miles from port of departure. The objective is to generate indices of abundance and size structure for commercially important snapper and grouper species, with an emphasis on queen snapper Etelis oculatus, silk snapper Lutjanus vivanus, blackfin snapper L. buccanella, vermilion snapper Rhomboplites aurobens, wenchman snapper Pristipomoides aquilonaris, and cardinal snapper P. macrophthalmus; and misty grouper Hyporthodus mystacinus. Data will be used to generate CV's/indices for use in stock assessments. Sampling will be conducted by commercial fishing vessels island wide around Puerto Rico. The vessel daily rate shall include services of captain and observer on board, gas for commercial vessel to complete the scientific work, transit to and from port, cost of bait for the scientific work for the hook and line fishing, the deep-drop fishing gear including line, hooks, reels, floats, or weights, and time required to extract any biological samples. The vessel daily rate should also include the delivery and collection of supplies and/or samples shipping to and from NOAA; and back and forth between contractor headquarters and the Puerto Rico DNER. Fishermen may need to mobilize from ports outside of their home port to target all fishing stations selected for sampling. The Government believes that Hector Jose Ruiz Torres is the only source capable of providing the services required at the level of quality required because the entity was awarded the 3 contracts, one in 2018, 2019, and 2020 with the exercising of an option year to continue work through FY22. These contracts that have been completed by Hector Jose Ruiz Torres have provided the necessary building blocks for the current 2022-2023 proposed project. It is absolutely necessary for the contractor to have working relationships with the commercial fishing industry, and the observer program in Puerto Rico, which Hector Jose Ruiz Torres unequivocally does. There are multiple justifications for a sole source award in this project. The strongest rationale is scientific quality. The ability to detect treatment effects relies on the ability to reduce extraneous variability; changing vendors midway through the project will unquestionably introduce bias and variance as different anglers will vary in their procedures, even if following the same set of instructions. Small changes in procedures can have profound impacts on outcomes. Based on the previously awarded contracts, the CV's generated by the methods and procedures used by Ruiz Torres have reduced sampling efforts by 46% for queen snapper, and 36% for silk snapper when compared to a simple random survey design. By doing so, the data collected resulted in CVs of mean CPUE ranging from 13-15% for queen and silk snapper. These low CV's are critically important to the success of the project and their use in Caribbean stock assessments. **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. Attachments Single Source Determination