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Questions and answers to the RFQ are hereby attached

Amendment #1 hereby extends the response due date to June 16, 2023 at 2:00pm MST.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) is tasked with protecting our nation’s living marine resources. OLE’s Northeast Division lists fishing gear compliance under the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act as one of its priorities for a sustainable lobster fishery. Additionally, identifying gear violations prohibited by the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act is a regional priority. Specific gear configurations such as weak rope, weak inserts and sinking ground lines are required to mitigate large whale entanglements. The need for inspecting the fixed lobster gear is two-fold. First, OLE must enforce regulations for the sustainability of the fishery. Second, the strict enforcement of trap limits and gear compliance could have a significant impact on the number of vertical and ground lines allowed in the water. The number of vertical and ground lines in the water directly correlates to the injury and mortality of large whale species to include the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. All data collected and hauling operations shall be used to identify any violations, collect evidence and conduct follow up investigations and enforcement action.

The Contractor shall provide a 55’ or larger Downeast lobster style vessel that by design is intended to efficiently and safely haul and reset commercial lobster gear in New England waters not to exceed 80 nautical miles (NM) from shore. OLE personnel will provide an Agency owned and operated remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and Side Scan Sonar (SSS) to collect imagery of lobster gear (traps and lines). OLE personnel will request the hauling of suspected non-compliant gear aboard the vessel for inspection to ensure compliance with federal fisheries and protected resource regulations. Video and still images shall be retained for documentary and/or potential evidence per agency policy. Non-compliant gear may be subject to seizure. Compliant gear shall then be re-deployed in a manner consistent with the original location and returned to the ocean floor in good working order with standard practices commonly used in the lobster industry.