Standing Offer for Salmonid Milt Preservation

SUMMARY

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has a requirement to set up a standing offer agreement for Salmonid Milt Preservation services on an “as and when” requested basis. The objective is to award a Standing Offer Agreement (SOA) to one (1) supplier who can provide Salmonid Milt Preservation Services to meet the specific needs of the Statement of Work.

SCOPE

The Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) plays a key role in Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s work to conserve and manage Pacific salmon stocks. SEP’s hatcheries contribute to the government’s efforts to conserve Pacific salmon populations in crisis and prevent the functional extirpation of local stocks.

Currently, there are multiple stocks of Pacific salmon within British Columbia that are in precipitous decline and require enhancement intervention. Due to limited hatchery capacity, the department triages stocks of extreme conservation concern. Triage is based on multiple factors, including whether a given stock is genetically unique within a conservation unit (CU) or designable unit (DU). When the escapement of a particular stock is less than the number of individuals required for an effective population size, the risk of extirpation increases significantly as heterozygosity and genetic diversity are lost.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada requires the following activities to be conducted:

1. prepare freshly extracted salmonid milt for cryopreservation
2. cryopreserve, inventory, and safely and securely store salmonid milt for an indeterminate length of time
3. safely reanimate milt as and when needed for female gamete fertilization
Species of salmonids that may be targeted for cryopreservation to support enhancement and research purposes include: Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka), Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar).

COMPREHENSIVE LAND CLAIMS AGREEMENTS

The Request for Standing Offers (RFSO) is to establish one (1) Standing Offer for the requirement detailed in the RFSO, to the Identified Users across Canada, excluding locations within Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, and Labrador that are subject to Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements (CLCAs). Any requirement for deliveries to locations within CLCAs areas within Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, or Labrador will have to be treated as a separate procurement, outside of the resulting standing offers.