The USGS, Cooperative Research Units in Reston, VA, supporting the Ecosystems Mission Area requests the purchases of Electrofishing equipment. The primary use is to support the field program of the Wisconsin Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit and the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit for sampling fishes in a variety of freshwater habitats research objectives associated with fisheries management, aquatic sciences, and resource conservation. The USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the specifications that were provided within the RFI that was posted. The USGS requests an Electrofishing Equipment Infinity Control Box. Therefore, the USGS intends to make an award to Midwest Lake Management, Inc., unless it is contacted by any vendor who believes they can provide the same product. Vendors are invited to contact the Contract Specialist, Nicole Demby (
[email protected]) no later than 12:00PM EST, Monday, November 2, 2020 with an affirmative answer. SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION STATES THE FOLLOWING PART: The following information is provided to demonstrate the proposed contractor's unique qualifications: The U.S. Geological Survey (Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit) has a need for an Infinity electrofishing control box. The proposed action may be awarded on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) ¿ only one source reasonably available. The equipment described above will be used as part of an existing network of electrofishing equipment for the Cooperative Research Units in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit specifically needs an Infinity electrofishing control box manufactured by Midwest Lake Management, Inc. because the new box is designed to serve as an exact match for an existing control box in Government inventory valued at approximately $XXX,XXX.XX Another control box is needed to serve as a backup to the existing box and having a second box available will allow us to use both of our electrofishing boats simultaneously, which has become a more frequent need. These two boats were specifically wired to safely operate with the Infinity Control Box and only that control box. The industry standard is to use a control box from a specific manufacturer in conjunction with an electrofishing boat that has been custom wired to be fully compatible with that manufacturer's specific control box. Often, this wiring is completed by the company that manufactures the control box, which is the case in this instance. Using a control box from a manufacturer that is not fully compatible with our current boats may represent a safety issue and could result in serious injury or death. Determining compatibility and safety would require in-person inspection and possible modification by personnel who are experienced with electrofishing systems. Additionally, using a control box from another manufacturer in our custom wired boats may not be possible or may require modifications. For example, the Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Unit already owns two electrofishing control boxes manufactured by another company and these boxes are not compatible with our boats that are custom wired for the Infinity Control Box. Re-wiring boats to be compatible with another brand of control box could potentially cost an additional $XX,XXX-XX,XXX. Lastly, we need the Infinity Box to ensure that the data we collected are consistent. Using a control box other than the Infinity Box (if it's actually possible) could result in differences in sampling efficiency that could affect catch rates. In several cases we have long term data sets in place where existing data were collected using our current electrofishing boats using the Infinity Control Box. Changing control boxes could unnecessarily compromise the use of these data if sampling effectiveness differs among control units. Based our extensive experience with electrofishing equipment, extensive market research conducted online, speaking with colleagues, and speaking with sales consultants, the electrofishing equipment by Midwest Lake Management, Inc. is the only equipment currently on the market that is able to meet all required specifications. To our knowledge, there are no resellers of this equipment. This was verified by USGS with a representative from Midwest Lakes Management that they do not currently have a reseller network at the time. A Request for Information (RFI) was conducted in September 2020 and only one other company responded to the RFI. The findings showed that the other company¿s electrofishing control box is not directly compatible with the current USGS custom wired electrofishing boats. Using a control box that is not compatible with the boat would cause a significant safety risk which could cause possible injury or death.