Inactive

Rev 2 Posted 2-21 Revisions include: 1) Update background to remove statement referring to only fishery indpedenent input, 2) Clarify that the RFI will be followed by other opportunities for stakehold... Rev 2 Posted 2-21 Revisions include: 1) Update background to remove statement referring to only fishery indpedenent input, 2) Clarify that the RFI will be followed by other opportunities for stakeholder engagement, and 3) Update response date to provide additoinal time, through March 17, 2023. Changes are highlighted in uploaded PDF Link section also updated to include information provide through hyperlink in PDF PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT FOR ALL INFORMATION This is a Request for Information (RFI), for market research purposes, in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 10 Procedures. This is not a solicitation, nor does it guarantee a solicitation will be issued. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This is not a request for proposals and it does not obligate the government in any manner. Background The NWFSC’s Fisheries Engineering and Acoustic Technologies (FEAT) team and the SWFSC’s Advanced Survey Technologies (AST) Program are working to integrate two California Current Ecosystem (CCE) stock assessment surveys: The Joint U.S.-Canada Integrated Ecosystem & Pacific Hake Acoustic Trawl Survey and the Coastal Pelagic Fish Species (CPS)/California Current Ecosystem (CCE) Survey, with a goal of implementing the first integrated survey by the Summer of 2025. The joint NWFSC and DFO survey produces a biomass estimate and age composition data for Pacific hake and the SWFSC’s survey produces estimates of the biomasses, distributions and demographics for seven stocks of five CPS (i.e., Pacific sardine, Northern anchovy, Pacific mackerel, Jack mackerel and Pacific herring) providing the only fishery independent inputs to stock assessments for effective management of these commercially valuable species. The following reports detail the data collections and analyses of the two surveys: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/43727 https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/46625 https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/48667 The new integrated survey will maximize use of valuable ship time, integrate knowledge, skills, methods and other resources across Centers and, with international partners, provide a more holistic understanding of the CCE. Flexibility has been a key element in the success and resiliency of these individual surveys, for example, by ensuring sampling systems (e.g., multi-frequency echosounders) are available on multiple platforms. The integrated survey must maintain flexibility in the new survey design and implementation. This RFI seeks input on: (1) the design of a single trawl net capable of fishing both in the midwater (e.g., for hake) and at the surface (e.g., for CPS), either as a modification of an existing design (e.g., Aleutian Wing Trawl or AWT) or an entirely new design including the net, rigging, and doors; (2) potential charter vessels to support sampling efforts in the integrated survey, in coordination with a NOAA Fisheries Survey Vessel (FSV); and (3) integrated survey design considerations and sampling protocols.