Biological Science Southeastern Hudson Bay Ecosystem Assessment

This requirement includes provision of a ship and crew, as well as handling of permits, certifications and providing logistics support for readying the ship for work in Hudson Bay waters mobilization to/from the study area, fueling, and any crew changes. We aim to study 10 sites around the Belcher Islands in later August/ early September 2023 to measure abundance of fish, scallops and other invertebrates, as well as environmental conditions and food sources that support these animals. This will involve: towing nets through the water column and along the sea-floor at each site to collect invertebrates and fish; collecting water to measure water characteristics (temperature, salinity, acidity/alkalinity, nutrients, and phytoplankton abundance) at various depths throughout the water column; and collecting sediment and invertebrates from the sea-floor. This work will provide estimates of fish and invertebrate abundance and diversity, potential shell stress from ocean acidification (scallops), and feeding relationships between invertebrates and fish (food web). In addition, oceanographic moorings will be retrieved and deployed during the surveys to collect data all year round. The contractor will provide a ship, capable of operating in the Arctic summer to perform scientific survey and deploy scientific equipment. The Captain and First Mate need to be aware of the nature of random scientific survey work, the need for consistent deployment of gear within and between tows. They also need to record data related to the performance of the gear, deployment locations and times if called upon to do so (i.e., speed-over-ground, depth, door spread, trawl height, time on-off bottom, geographic coordinates). The Contractor will take all risks in connection with gear damage or loss. The Captain of the vessel exercises overall responsibility for the ship. The Chief Scientist is responsible for the scientific program and will work together with the Captain to agree on sampling stations