Midwater Trawl

Notice Type: Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought Response Date: March 24, 2018 by 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time. NAICS Code: 336612 FAR 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of: Information. (end of clause) THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. This is a Request for Information (RFI); a market research tool used by the Government to gauge the marketplace and learn the industry's capabilities. Responses from all qualified businesses will assist in that determination. The information requested hereunder is for planning purposes and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued or contract awarded. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the submission of information. Responses to the notice will not be returned. The Government will not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any improperly identified proprietary information. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with Government regulations. The Western Acquisition Division (WAD) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Seattle, WA, on behalf of the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Alaska Fisheries Science Center's (AFSC), Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering (MACE) Program. This request is issued for the purpose of exchanging information to improve the Government's understanding of industry capabilities. The RFI will enable potential offerors to determine whether, or how, they could satisfy the Government's requirements to provide supplies and services at reasonable price. For purposes of determine Small Business size standard, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement 336612. BACKGROUND The National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Alaska Fisheries Science Center's (AFSC), Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering (MACE) Program conducts regular, acoustic-trawl surveys to estimate the size of important commercial fish stocks in Alaskan waters. Data from these surveys are used to manage fisheries resources and to provide harvest guidance. Specifically, these surveys provide information on abundance, distribution, demographic composition, and spawning status of walleye pollock and other important fish species in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. The primary survey vessel used by MACE is the 209 ft stern trawler NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, a diesel electric vessel with two 1,542-hp in-line motors, 2 large capacity net reels, a third wire system, and auto-trawl equipped main winches with 1 1/8" trawl warps. The acoustic-trawl surveys require a midwater trawl to identify the species and size composition of acoustically observed fish aggregations. Presently, an Aleutian Wing 30/26 Trawl (AWT) is used on all current acoustic-trawl surveys. Recent research has shown that small fishes (8-15 cm fork length) are poorly retained by the AWT and when encountered together with larger fishes, which leads to errors in survey abundance estimates, and hence impacts management of the resource. In addition, the large size of the AWT trawl opening presents challenges when samples are needed from dense fish aggregations, as the catches quickly become overly large for survey purposes. The primary objective of this Request for Information is to identify vendors that are capable of designing a replacement midwater trawl with improved performance in comparison with the current AWT. Specifically, the updated trawl design requires: 1) improved retention of small fish, 2) reduced catch amounts per unit effort in high fish density conditions compared to the AWT, and 3) ability to withstand occasional ground contact in areas with a smooth seafloor. In addition, improved durability, ease of operation and maintenance relative to the AWT are of high importance. General operating parameters for trawling operations are listed below; approximately 150 midwater tows are conducted per year, typically for durations of 20 minutes at fishing depth (range 5 - 60 min), with fishing depth ranging from 50-700 m and a towing speed is 2.5-3.5knots. ? RFI Response Instructions Interested contractors should include the following information in their response: 1. Capability statement (core competencies and other relevant information). 2. Company size status (small business concern per 13 CFR, educational institution, federal, local or state entity, commercial entity, nonprofit organization, etc.). 3. Your Socioeconomic status, if any. 4. Your status as a manufacturer or reseller of the items noted. 5. Your firm's DUNs and Cage Code. 6. Relevant past performance. Relevant past performance is performance under contracts or efforts within 3 years that is of the same or similar scope, magnitude, and complexity to that which is described in this Request for Information. Include a list of current or previous contracts performed (both Federal and commercial) within the past 3 years that are of a similar nature to this request. Responses to this RFI are due no later than Saturday, March 24, 2018 by 5:00 pm Pacific Time. Responses shall be sent via email to Paul Park, Contracting Officer, paul.park@noaa.gov of your response must be in ".pdf format" and readable by the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Questions pertaining to this notice may also be emailed to Paul Park.