eDNA Autosamplerview on SAM.gov

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT. IT IS NOT A SOLICITATION, NOR DOES IT GUARANTEE A SOLICITATION WILL BE ISSUED. REQUESTS FOR A SOLICITATION WILL NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE. Any information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Announcement is strictly voluntary. The Government will neither award a contract solely based on this notice, nor pay for any information submitted by respondents. This notice is a request by the Government to collect information from interested vendors for the purpose of market research. Failing to provide a response to this announcement will not prohibit/exclude an interested vendor from participating in a future solicitation. BACKGROUND: NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pelagic Research Program seeks to purchase one or more environmental eDNA autosampler systems to support mission-critical fisheries, ecosystem, and protected species research surveys in the Pacific Islands Region. NOAA PIFSC requires autonomous or semi-autonomous eDNA autosampling capability to collect, and filter seawater samples during shipboard, small-boat, moored, drifting, towed, or gear-integrated field operations. The autosampler system must support collection of discrete eDNA samples across variable depths, times, and/or sampling volumes, including higher-volume water filtration appropriate for low-biomass, offshore, pelagic, or deep-water environments. They can be operated by a single person on NOAA Ships, chartered vessels and small boats or attached to a variety of gear for accurate spatial sampling. They also avoid many of the contamination issues associated with current water filtering methods. Environmental DNA has become an increasingly important, cost-effective, and non-extractive tool for detecting and monitoring marine biodiversity, estimating fish community composition, identifying invasive species, and improving ecosystem assessment. PIFSC currently uses eDNA to support research on coral reef fishes, pelagic ecosystems, invasive species, protected species, and species that are difficult to observe using conventional survey methods. Current eDNA sample collection (e.g., Niskin bottles on CTD rosettes) is laborious, time-consuming, sensitive to contamination issues, and cannot be performed from small boats. often rely on manual water collection and shipboard or laboratory filtration. These methods can be labor-intensive, time-consuming, sensitive to contamination, and difficult to synchronize with other survey platforms or gear types. Manual approaches also limit the ability to collect samples at target depths, over extended time periods, or in direct association with mobile survey assets such as nets, longline gear, hydrophones, oceanographic profilers, autonomous platforms, or drifting systems. An eDNA autosampler will allow PIFSC to collect and preserve samples in situ, reduce contamination risk, increase sample consistency, expand sampling capacity in remote offs…