ACAN #18-018 - CW - Fish Acoustic Telemetry Equipment

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO - NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SINGLE SOURCE CONTRACT: 18-018
Fish Acoustic Telemetry Equipment
 
The University of Waterloo (UW) intends to award a single source contract to Vemco, AMIRIX Systems Inc. of Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, for the purchase of fish tracking and monitoring equipment including acoustic internal fish transmitting tags, acoustic receivers with acoustic release, and associated communication accessories. This equipment will allow integration of UW currently owned Vemco receivers.
 
This is an Advanced Notice indicating to the supplier community that UW intends to award a contract for these goods to a pre-identified supplier. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date of this notice, a statement of specifications that, at a minimum, equals or exceeds the stated requirements set out in this Notice, the competitive requirements of the University are considered to have been met. Following notification to any suppliers not successful in demonstrating that their statement of specifications meets the requirements set out in this Notice, the contract may then be awarded to the pre-identified supplier.
 
If other potential suppliers submit statements of specifications during the fifteen calendar day posting period, and meet the requirements set out in this Notice, UW will proceed to a Request for Proposal process, in order to award the contract.
 
SPECIFICATIONS:
This equipment allows for the locational tracking of fish (Arctic Char) via surgically implanted acoustic transmitting tags. The equipment aids in meeting the project objective of identifying Coppermine River, Nunavut, Arctic Char overwintering locations. The key benefits of the preferred equipment include:
 

• Passive Arctic Char movement monitoring via deployable stationary non-observable receivers.
• Receivers can be placed on the river or ocean floor without the need for a surface float. This greatly reduces the chances of the receiver being fowled by debris or by being removed/ tampered with in high watercraft traffic locations.
• Vemco deployable acoustic receivers have battery life that lasts 14 months long. Due to the extreme remoteness and very cold water temperature conditions of the project area the acoustic receiver batteries must last more than 365 days.
• Equipment from Vemco allows for the integration of existing Vemco receivers in current possession by the UW. This greatly adds to Arctic Char detection capabilities within the overall project area. 
  The budget for this purchase is approximately $130,000 CDN, exclusive of HST.
   
  SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION:
   
  Vemco fish acoustic telemetry equipment allows for the deployment of acoustic receivers anchored on the river or ocean floor without the need for a surface tether. This allows the receiver to be out of sight from any watercraft or from shore and thereby greatly reducing the chance of theft or tampering. The receiver has a built-in acoustic release mechanism that when triggered from the surface, the receiver un-attaches and floats to the surface for retrieval and data download. The batteries in these acoustic release receivers last approximately 420 days which meets the project requirement of being able to last at least 365 days (1 year) due to the extreme remoteness and very cold water temperatures of the project area.
   
  Equipment from Vemco will allow the full integration and manufacturers guarantee of existing Vemco receivers, currently in the UW’s possession, into the project. The Vemco receivers currently owned by the UW will allow for a significantly more robust acoustic detection network within the project study area.