Notice of Intent to Award to a Sole Source

This is a notice of intent to solicit from a single source.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) intends to award a purchase order to Innovasea Marine Systems Canada Inc. in Bedford, Nova Scotia, for 43 Innovasea NexTrak R1 acoustic telemetry receivers and 150 compatible V16-4x 64 kHz kHz acoustic transmitters to support long-term telemetry monitoring of migratory fishes throughout Atlantic coast river systems and estuaries. The delivered acoustic receivers and tags must:
- Operate at a frequency of 69 kHz to ensure compatibility with existing collaborative telemetry arrays and coastwide telemetry infrastructure.
- Be compatible with all Innovasea coded 69 kHz transmitters and sensor tags currently used by partner institutions and monitoring programs.
- Support long-term riverine and estuarine deployments with receiver battery life of approximately 13 months.
- Provide sufficient onboard storage capacity to support extended deployments with approximately 5 million detections.
- Support deployments in a wide range of aquatic environments with a minimum depth rating of 750 meters.
- Include logging capabilities for environmental and operational metrics including noise, tilt, temperature, and signal strength.
- Include programmable self-transmitter functionality to support equipment diagnostics and deployment verification.
- Integrate with Fathom Connect software for efficient telemetry data offload, management, and analysis.
- Be compatible with the VR100-300 Deckbox and VHTx 69 kHz transponding hydrophone system for communication with deployed receivers.
- Include acoustic transmitters capable of long-term monitoring of migratory fish species in riverine, estuarine, and coastal environments.
- Include acoustic transmitters with variable programming options appropriate for a range of species and study objectives, including Atlantic sturgeon, shortnose sturgeon, American eel, striped bass, and river herring.
- Include coded acoustic transmitters capable of providing unique identification codes to allow simultaneous monitoring of large numbers of tagged fish within collaborative telemetry arrays.
- Include acoustic tags with battery life sufficient to support seasonal, multi-year, or long-term movement studies depending on project requirements.
- Include acoustic tags capable of transmitting environmental or biological sensor information, including depth and temperature, where required for project objectives.
- Include acoustic tags designed for high detection efficiency and compatibility with existing Innovasea receiver infrastructure currently deployed throughout Atlantic coast telemetry networks.
- Include acoustic transmitters and sensor tags fully compatible with coastwide telemetry databases and collaborative data-sharing frameworks utilized by state, federal, academic, and non-governmental telemetry partners.
Award will be made in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) procedures at FAR Part 12 entitled, Acquisition of Commercial Items. Innovasea Marine Systems Canada Inc. is, to the knowledge of the USGS, the only source who can provide this proprietary equipment that is compatible with existing systems.
This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. However, all responsible parties may submit a quotation which shall be considered by the agency. No solicitation will be issued. A determination not to compete this action based upon responses received is in the sole discretion of the Government.
The NAICS code 334220, Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing, and PSC 5845, Underwater Sound Equipment, apply to this announcement.
Responses or inquiries shall only be accepted through e- mail addressed to the contract specialist, Miranda_blankenship@ios.doi.gov, and must be uploaded and received in their entirety no later than 09/11/2026 at 1300 EDT. Responses submitted by hardcopy or any web portal shall not be accepted or considered.