4VsW SENTINEL MONITORING PROJECT

Advance Contract Award Notice Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is seeking the services of a contractor and vessel to obtain the data required to develop ground fish species abundance indices in NAFO division 4VsW through the completion of a Sentinel Monitoring survey in 4VsW. This project will collect data at 21 stations in two inshore strata to monitor groundfish abundance in the inshore area not surveyed by the DFO Research Vessel survey. The data and biological sample processing will provide products to inform on species distribution, abundance, life history traits, and ecosystem data.  The purpose of this Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) is to signal the government’s intention to award a contract for these services to Fishermen and Scientist Research Society, NS. Before awarding a contract the government would like to provide other suppliers with the opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of satisfying the requirements set out in this Notice, by submitting a statement of capabilities during the ACAN posting period. If other potential suppliers submit a statement of capabilities during this ACAN posting period that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the government will proceed to a full tendering process on either GETS or through traditional means in order to award the contract. If no other supplier submits on or before the closing date, a statement of capabilities meeting the requirements set out in the ACAN, a contract will be awarded to the pre-selected supplier. Requirements or Expected Results The Project supports DFO’s Legal mandate and the following strategic outcomes:

Economically Prosperous Maritime Sectors and Fisheries Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems

The activities undertaken in this project link to the Program Alignment Architecture Economically Prosperous Maritime Sectors and Fisheries through Program activity 1.1 Integrated Fisheries Management and the sub activity Commercial Fisheries by providing greater certainty in scientific advice for stock assessments and improved understanding of species distributions, life history patterns and response to environmental factors. This project improves the process of fisheries research by making available to DFO scientists information on species distribution and abundance information from a stock area not normally accessible by our own research platform.

Scope of Work

The work will take place starting in October of 2018. The fishing of the survey stations will be completed within 4 weeks of the start of fishing in October 2018. All other deliverables will be completed by March 15, 2019.  The contractor will work on site at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2