This is a Request for Information (RFI) for a longline survey vessel charter in the eastern Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands region, and the Gulf of Alaska. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A SOLICITATION AND IS BEING USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF MARKET RESEARCH ONLY. Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government. Respondents will not be entitled to payment of direct or indirect costs incurred in responding to this RFI. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The attached draft Statement of Work (SOW) is for reference only; the final SOW will likely change.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD), located in Seattle, WA, is conducting market research to assess the current and near-future marketplace and potential vendors capable of performing a Longline Survey for sablefish and other groundfish in the eastern Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands region, and the Gulf of Alaska for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service’s (Fisheries) Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC). Information provided in response to this RFI will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available to determine how to proceed in the acquisition process. This RFI requests interested parties to describe their technical capabilities and demonstrated facilities, processes, and service capabilities. All interested contractors are requested to provide written responses to the questions below. Responding to this RFI is necessary to assist NOAA Fisheries in determining the potential levels of interest, adequacy of competition, market maturity, and technical capabilities within the business community to provide the required capabilities.
The Government is seeking the industry’s input to determine the feasibility of this charter and the availability of qualified sources with the technical capability to fulfill the requirements outlined in the draft SOW. The Government welcomes industry comments, questions, and suggestions that will aid it in understanding industry capabilities, developing its acquisition strategy, and finalizing the SOW. The purpose of this RFI notice is threefold: 1) to determine the capability, interest, and availability of vendors in the marketplace, 2) for vendors to propose alternate “creative” compensation arrangements that would ensure they would be adequately compensated for their time, and 3) to encourage vendor/government dialog that allows exploration of alternative approaches that may reduce cost and risk. If a solicitation is generated by the Government from this RFI, the Government reserves the right to use all of the information, use none of the information, or change all or part of the information noted and contained in the attached draft SOW. The government may utilize the information provided to refine its acquisition strategy to maximize competition among viable alternatives. To benefit fully from industry responses to this RFI, vendors are encouraged to schedule one-on-one information exchanges with the Government.
This notice is being published in accordance with FAR Part 10.001(a)(2)(ii) which requires conducting market research before soliciting offers for acquisitions with an estimated value in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold. The Government does not intend to disclose vendor proprietary information and trade secrets to the public. However, the government may use the information submitted by vendors during the market research period in preparing its Request for Proposals (RFP) and finalizing the SOW, provided this can be done without disclosing proprietary vendor information that is protected from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other laws and regulations.
Responses to this RFI are due to Contracting Officer Crystina Jubie via email at Crystina.R.Jubie@noaa.gov no later than Monday, September 23, 2024. A Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code are requested with your submission. Registration in the System for Award Management (SAM), www.sam.gov, is not necessary to respond to this RFI. If the information in this RFI leads to a solicitation, registration in SAM will be a requirement for doing business with and entering into a contract with the Government.
All questions regarding this procurement should be sent in writing to the Contracting Officer, Crystina Jubie, via email at Crystina.R.Jubie@noaa.gov with a copy to Sarah.Waugh@noaa.gov. If appropriate, an amendment will be posted to provide relevant questions and answers to all interested vendors.
This RFI is being issued under NAICS: 483114. All interested prospective firms are invited to respond. A determination from this notice may lead to a small business set aside in accordance with FAR Part 19 if this RFI results in a future solicitation. All Prospective firms who respond to this request will be contacted if/when a solicitation is posted to:https://sam.gov/
The NOAA Fisheries AFSC requires a contractor(s) to conduct a longline survey to measure abundance and collect size and age data for adult sablefish and other groundfish along the upper continental slope of the eastern Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands region, and the Gulf of Alaska per the attached draft SOW. Historically, this project has been contracted on a cost-recovery basis. The terms of the most recent contract stipulated that the vessel retained 100% of the survey’s revenue up to a threshold value of $2,388,501. Any revenues above the threshold value were mostly retained by the vessel contractor but a small percentage of those revenues were required to be used for purchasing fish sampling supplies for the next year’s charter as directed by the government. The threshold value was adjusted annually for inflation by the Consumer Price Index.
In recent years, survey catch, fish size, and price have fluctuated, making the cost-recovery arrangement a less reliable source of compensation for this work. As such, the Government is inviting vendors to provide suggestions for compensation arrangements to ensure that any contractor conducting this charter would not operate at a financial loss. Prospective vendors are encouraged to recommend daily rates that could be supplemented by cost recovery. Other novel recommendations for financial arrangements are also encouraged.
Prospective firms should notify this office of their interest in this notice by submitting a Capabilities Statement, which should include their company size and provide descriptive literature or other documentation in addition to the following information:
1) A statement that your firm has the capability to meet the requirements and perform the services outlined in the attached draft SOW;
2) Your firm's UEI and CAGE code, if current in the System for Awards Management (SAM);
3) Your firm's Small Business Administration (SBA) certified small business concern status. Specifically identify if your firm is HUBZone-certified, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, or SBA 8(a) program certified;
4) A brief description of your firm's recent past experience (within the past three years) performing relevant similar services;
5) Suggestions for a compensation arrangement that would ensure a contractor performing this survey would not be operating at a loss; creativity is encouraged;
6) Suggestions for alternative survey arrangements that increase efficiency and/or decrease operating costs. Specifically, are there any changes to the draft SOW that, if enacted, would result in your firm becoming interested in proposing on this contract?
7) The Government requests a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate with your response and comments on the key cost drivers that should be considered for the attached SOW.
The Government anticipates holding a virtual industry day to occur sometime during the week of September 30, 2024 - October 4, 2024 on a day and time to be determined, but it may reach out to vendors who respond to this notice to request clarification or have open conversations regarding any information provided.
All information received in response to this notice shall be treated as Business Sensitive or confidential to the responder, exempt from public release under the FOIA. Please note this is NOT a request to be placed on a solicitation mailing list. The results of this RFI will be considered to be in effect for a period of one year from the date of this notice.
