Document, sample, recover and transport St. Lawrence Estuary beluga carcasses

DEFINITION OF THE REQUIREMENT
Objective

Document, sample, recover and transport St. Lawrence Estuary beluga carcasses to determine cause of death.

Context

Each year, more than 1400 cases concerning marine mammals that are either dead or ill are reported to the Réseau Québécois d’Urgence pour les Mammifères Marins (RQUMM). The RQUMM, which comprise a network of 220 volunteers, two field teams (GREMM) and three teams for peripheral interventions in more remote areas (contracting party), are mobilized to document these cases to assess the species and obtain standard basic information. Among these cases, between 15 and 25 are St. Lawrence Estuary beluga, a population considered endangered, and for which DFO has the mandate to monitor the recovery of the population, and identify and mitigate threats.

DFO maintains an annual monitoring program to attend and sample each reported beluga carcass since 1983. The Department requires the support from external partners with adequate expertise and logistical means to document and sample each carcass according to rigorous protocols that are maintained constant through the years so to insure comparability of the metrics quantified. DFO also rely on external experts for a timely recovery of each carcass and reduced decomposition of the animals. Each carcass in good preservation state (approximately 10 per year) has to be transported from the shores or waters of the Estuary or northern Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire de St-Hyacinthe (FMV), where a team of veterinarians proceeds with a full necropsy, a myriad of pathological analyses and determination of cause of death.

Requirements

Document, transport or sample beluga carcasses reported to the Centrale Urgences Mammifères Marins of the RQUMM, according to protocols established by DFO in the context of their long-term annual monitoring program for beluga carcasses, effective since 1983.

Refer to the Advance Contract Award Notice document for full details.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES (MINIMUM ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS)

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:

The Supplier must:
1. have at least (2) years experience of at least five (5) months a year in scientific sampling, transport and extraction of cetacean carcasses from stranding sites, including beluga.
2. demonstrate they have the necessary equipment to complete the work according to the Statement of Work outlined in section 2 above, including:
a. a tractor-trailer capable of carrying 1,600 kg for the transport of beluga carcasses.
b. a boat for towing and recovering beluga carcasses that are adrift. (1,600 kg)
c. a software application capable of collecting data, standardizing it, ensuring its long-term preservation, formatting it, and distributing it within two hours of a request from the project authority.
d. a freezer capable of storing samples collected from belugas at a temperature of -20°C
3. demonstrate that the data and samples they’ve collected on cetacean carcasses were used recently (within the last 5 years) in a minimum of three (3) primary scientific publications.