High-Quality Fishmeal-Based Supply of Pelleted Fish Feed

Procurement Summary

The Northwest Fisheries Science Center requires high-quality fishmeal-based supply of pelleted fish feed for full life-cycle that will be used for the rearing of ESA-listed Redfish Lake Sockeye Salmon Captive Broodstock program at the Manchester Research Station and Creek Hatchery. High-quality fish meal feeds have been used consistently by this program for 30-plus years, with excellent results in producing high-quality ESA-listed captive broodstock fish and eggs for supplementation. The continued use of 100% fish-meal protein fish feed will ensure consistency in fish growth management, data collection, and palatability. The high-quality fishmeal-based supply of pelleted fish feed requires component specifications and is the only known product capable of meeting the needs of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. All feeds must have a proven performance in culturing Pacific salmon. The vendor must be Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), Feed Assure, Nutrace, and ISO 9001:2000 Certified. Feed must contain high-quality marine fish oils, high levels of digestible protein from premium fish meal, and balanced lipid content. Protein ingredients should be predominantly fish meal and fish oil-based. All diets must be formulated to be fed as the sole ration to cultured salmon species. All diets must be shelf-stable and not require refrigeration. The vendor must have extensive experience providing fish feed to the Pacific salmon hatchery system. A sources sought notice was not posted to SAM.gov. However, an unrestricted solicitation was posted to SAM.gov, Solicitation ID 1333MF25Q0021, on 03/03/2025 through a CD-570 waiver process, approved by the NOAA Small Business Office. During the solicitation, interest was limited, and Moore-Clark U.S.A., Inc. (Bio-Oregon) reached out and requested that the requirement be changed to only the base year. The solicitation was then amended to remove the options from the solicitation. No eligible quote responses were received besides the foreign manufacturer of the required products. The original solicitation was posted for 8 days, and the amendment extended the response time by another 3 days. The Contracting Officer searched the General Services Administration (GSA), Small Business Administration (SBA), and Acquisition Gateway websites on 01/28/2025 for fish feed and animal products. The search did not produce any other sources capable of providing the required fish feed. None of the other fish feeds were found to be comparable to meet all of the requirements by the program office. The Contracting Officer submitted a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Supplier Scouting Opportunity Synopsis form on 04/07/2025, and the results on 04/25/2025 showed "No Matches" found. No domestic sources were identified during market research that can meet the requirements of the NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center.The mission impact would be critical because a change in diet could impact fish survival and productivity and negatively affect program goals. Changes in diet could potentially affect the growth and reproduction of ESA-listed broodstocks, disrupting the program while adjustments and evaluations are made to the long-established growth curves and predictable reproductive results. The resulting impacts could affect the annual stocking goal of 1 million smolts mandated by the Recovery Plan.

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