Supporting Response to Dead and Distressed Marine Animals in Maritimes Provinces

1. ADVANCE CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE (ACAN) An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier. 2. BACKGROUND: The purpose of the project entitled “Supporting Response to Dead and Distressed Marine Animals in Maritimes Provinces” is to provide support towards: the operation of a toll-free bilingual reporting call centre; the coordination of marine animal response efforts; the response to marine animal incidents, where possible and safe; the provision of response guidance to other authorized partners; and the collection of basic marine animal incident data (basic data is only: species identity, location details, date/time, documentation of external surface, age and sex, length measurement, a 5 x 5cm skin sample and blubber thickness measurements for small animals) and appropriate sharing of relevant data with DFO to contribute to their Marine Mammal Response Program tracking. This project supports efforts to ensure incidents involving dead and distressed marine animals in the Maritimes Provinces are reported, particularly those involving species currently listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), entangled whales and other live and distressed marine animals, and to promote efficiency by reporting to a single hotline.