Notice2021-26851
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Reopening of Federal Funding Opportunity
Primary source
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Published
December 13, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is reopening the requesting proposals from highly-qualified contractors to organize and expand a vessel position monitoring system for the federally permitted Gulf of Mexico Shrimp industry.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 236 (Monday, December 13, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 236 (Monday, December 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70828-70830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26851]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB630]
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Reopening of Federal
Funding Opportunity
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; reopening of request for proposals to address expanded
sampling of the fleet for effort monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico
shrimp industry.
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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is reopening the
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requesting proposals from highly-qualified contractors to organize and
expand a vessel position monitoring system for the federally permitted
Gulf of Mexico Shrimp industry.
DATES: This will be a 12-18 month project and a maximum $350,000 is
available to fund the work. Proposal Submission Deadline: January 10,
2022 by 11:59 p.m. EST.
ADDRESSES: Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council,
4107 W Spruce Street, Suite 200, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: (813) 348-
1630.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Carrie Simmons, Executive
Director, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council;
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#482b293a3a212d663b21252527263b082f3d242e2b273d262b212466273a2f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c3a0a2b1b1aaa6edb0aaaeaeacadb083a4b6afa5a0acb6ada0aaafedacb1a4">[email protected]</span></a>; telephone: (813) 348-1630 ext. 2310.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Deadline for Reopened Proposal Submission: Monday, January 10, 2022 by
11:59 p.m. EST
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) published a
notice in the Federal Register on July 28, 2021 seeking submissions of
a highly-qualified contractor to organize and expand a vessel position
monitoring system for the federally permitted Gulf of Mexico Shrimp
industry (86 FR 40494). This request for submissions is hereby
reopened.
The current Gulf of Mexico electronic logbook (ELB) program that
utilized a 3G cellular network to transmit data is no longer supported,
and the server became unviable for data storage in December 2020.
The Council, in coordination with NMFS, is seeking to develop a new
program that will provide for continued collection, storage, and
transmission of shrimp vessel position data that are used to estimate
shrimping effort. This new program is intended to replace the current
Shrimp ELB program which no longer transmits data through the 3G
cellular network.
The need for this study is to test the P-Sea WindPlot software
program with a portion of the shrimp fleet in the near term to
determine if it meets the needs of industry, Council, and NMFS. The
newly developed program will ultimately need to meet NMFS hardware and
software approval to be utilized throughout the shrimp industry.
Proposals should identify by region/state the number of vessels
that will volunteer to participate in the proposed pilot program for
vessel position monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed work
should clearly define methodology and intent for meeting the NMFS
software and hardware requirements while documenting the estimated
costs to the industry. The proposal should detail the methodology
proposed for archiving the vessel location, data retention, and
automatic transmission of the data to NMFS when within cellular/
satellite range of land.
The Council will develop an agreement with the selected
contractor(s) with milestones and deliverables after the review and
selection process. The selected contractor(s) will work with Council
staff.
Background
During its January 2021 meeting, the Council identified unspent
Council funds from the 2020 fiscal year. The Council is considering
funding an expanded study that utilizes P-Sea WindPlot software as a
replacement for the recently discontinued shrimp ELB program.
Preliminary meetings with industry, such as the Shrimp Advisory Panel
meeting suggest that a majority of the shrimp fleet currently use the
P-Sea WindPlot software program, which is installed on a desktop or
laptop computer housed onboard the vessel; thus, the learning curve and
potential annual cellular/satellite expenses are anticipated to be
minimal. Further, leaders in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp industry support
using this type of software program.
Scope of Work
The contractor will be responsible for all data products outlined
below and is encouraged to contribute additional products and
suggestions in the proposal for this work. The selected contractor will
also be responsible for presenting the mid-term and final project
summary report to the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committees
and to the Council. The proposed scope of work should include the
following:
<bullet> The proposal must consider the use of P-Sea WindPlot
software to collect the vessel position data for shrimp vessels, as
this is the preferred software by industry.
[cir] The version(s) of P-sea WindPlot required would be: WindPlot
7.29 or Windplot 7.28 versions updated later than May 2021 (contractor
should include budgetary considerations for these versions in the
proposal).
[cir] File type is binary. Currently, P-sea WindPlot collects
latitude and longitude date and time stamp--every 10 minutes as the
default. However, the software version listed above allow for different
latitude and longitude and time stamp intervals other than 10 minutes
(See the example of DAT file contents in Attachment 1).
[cir] Approximate size of file that would be generated prior to
data compression is estimated to be 1 megabyte for a 30-day trip at sea
with pings every 10 minutes.
[cir] The contractor may also propose testing other hardware/
software options simultaneously that meet the needs of industry,
Council, and NMFS. The proposal should include the rationale and
viability of any other hardware-software options proposed.
<bullet> The proposal should detail the methodology proposed for
archiving the vessel position location, data retention, security, and
automatic transmission of the data to a secure server when within
cellular/satellite range of land. The contractor will be requested to
provide an example of a detailed authentication process since the NMFS
security and authentication requirements are not yet determined for the
shrimp industry. The contractor should describe a server or similar
storage system that would be used to demonstrate the automatic data
transmission.
<bullet> The proposal should identify, by state, the number of
shrimp vessels actively participating in the fishery that will
volunteer to participate in the proposed work in the Gulf of Mexico.
This should be a representative subsample of the fleet using a random
stratified approach.
<bullet> The proposed work should clearly define methodology and
intent for meeting the NMFS software and hardware requirements approval
process. For example, outline the methodology proposed to automatically
transmit vessel position data, from the hardware/software device(s)
onboard the shrimp vessel to a secure server when within cellular/
satellite range.
<bullet> The proposal should detail the estimated costs to the
industry for hardware/software, vessel position data storage, and
monthly cellular/satellite transmission fees. The proposal should
outline details about analysis of data from individual position points
per vessel in the program that will be synthesized into vessel effort
monitoring on a monthly basis.
Results and outcomes from this work will be provided to the Council
and NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center.
The contractor will be responsible for all data products outlined
below and is encouraged to contribute additional products and
suggestions in the proposal for this work. The selected contractor will
also be responsible for presenting the mid-term and final project
summary report to the Council's
[[Page 70830]]
Scientific and Statistical Committees and to the Council. The proposed
scope of work should include the following:
<bullet> The proposal must consider the use of P-Sea WindPlot
software to collect the vessel position data for shrimp vessels, as
this is the preferred software by industry. However, the contractor may
also propose testing other hardware/software options simultaneously
that meet the needs of industry, Council, and NMFS. The proposal should
include the rationale and viability of any other hardware-software
options proposed.
<bullet> The proposal should detail the methodology proposed for
archiving the vessel position location, data retention, security, and
automatic transmission of the data to a secure server when within
cellular/satellite range of land.
<bullet> The proposal should identify, by state, the number of
shrimp vessels actively participating in the fishery that will
volunteer to participate in the proposed work in the Gulf of Mexico.
This should be a representative subsample of the fleet using a random
stratified approach.
<bullet> The proposed work should clearly define methodology and
intent for meeting the NMFS software and hardware requirements approval
process. For example, outline the methodology proposed to automatically
transmit vessel position data, from the hardware/software device(s)
onboard the shrimp vessel to a secure server when within cellular/
satellite range.
<bullet> The proposal should detail the estimated costs to the
industry for hardware/software, vessel position data storage, and
monthly cellular/satellite transmission fees. The proposal should
outline details about analysis of data from individual position points
per vessel in the program that will be synthesized into vessel effort
monitoring on a monthly basis.
Results and outcomes from this work will be provided to the Council
and NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center.
Application Process
Contractor Qualifications: The successful applicant or applicant
team will have demonstrable experience in fisheries, marine ecology,
spatial management, or related field.
How to Apply: Applicants should submit a proposal to Gulf of Mexico
Fishery Management Council by email
(<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#deacb8aef0adb6acb7b3aeb3b1b0b7aab1acb7b0b99eb9abb2b8bdb1abb0bdb7b2f0b1acb9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="611307114f120913080c110c0e0f08150e13080f062106140d07020e140f02080d4f0e1306">[email protected]</span></a>) by 11:59 p.m. EST on January 10,
2022. Requests for additional information can also be accepted at this
email address or visit our website at <a href="https://gulfcouncil.org/about/request-for-proposals/">https://gulfcouncil.org/about/request-for-proposals/</a>. Proposals should include the following elements
and should not exceed 25 pages, excluding the Qualifications of
Applicant and Letters of Support:
Executive Summary: A summary of the work proposed, including a
brief summary of the applicant's qualifications.
Proposed Scope of Work: See bulleted list above.
Qualifications of Applicant: A summary of the qualifications of the
applicant and other team members, if applicable. A curriculum vitae
should be included for each individual who is expected to work on the
project.
Proposed Budget: A detailed budget, including the basis for the
charges (e.g., hourly rates, fixed fees, approved federally negotiated
overhead rate and other costs consistent with federally allowable costs
for sub-contractors). Travel costs for meeting with industry volunteers
should be detailed. The proposal should also budget for traveling to
SSC and Council meetings to present a mid-term and a final report, for
an approximate total of four in-person meetings.
Letters of Support: Letters demonstrating collaboration with shrimp
industry leaders will be ranked higher.
Proposed Timeline: A detailed timeline for working with industry
representatives, testing of hardware/software devices, data
transmission testing, data analyses, and mid-term and final reports
should be provided.
Applicant References: Names, titles, full addresses, email
addresses, and phone numbers for three clients for whom the applicant
has provided similar services to those requested or are familiar with
the applicant's work and the quality of the applicant's work products.
Proposal Evaluation Criteria and Next Steps
Proposals will be evaluated based on methodology and scope outlined
in the proposed work plan including but not limited to the ability to
deliver, in a timely manner a quality work product, references,
timeline, and budget. The Council may request additional information as
deemed necessary or negotiate modifications prior to providing support
for a proposal. Once a proposal is selected for funding, a formal
contract will be developed with the applicants.
Disclaimer
1. This project is being funded by Federal funding authorized under
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act through
NOAA Fisheries Service and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
Council NOAA award number: NA20NMF4410011. Compliance with the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Pub. L. 104-
208 as amended), the current requirements of the Federal Office of
Management and Budget, the Department of Commerce financial assistance
standard terms and conditions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
financial assistance administrative terms, all special award conditions
specific to this award and all parts of the Uniform Guidance at Title 2
of the Code of Federal Regulations must be maintained.
2. The contractor is responsible for all costs conducting the work
and presenting the mid-term and final results to the Scientific and
Statistical Committees and Council.
3. Proposals and their accompanying documentation will not be
returned, but retained as part of the Council's administrative
documents.
4. All applicants included in the proposal must disclose any
conflicts of interest and/or pending civil/criminal/fishery legal
actions.
5. The Council reserves the right to accept or reject any or all
applications received, negotiate with all qualified applicants, cancel
or modify this request for proposals in part or in its entirety, or
change the application guidelines, when it is in the best interests of
the Council.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 7, 2021.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-26851 Filed 12-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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