Atlantic Whitefish Captive-Rearing

INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of this Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) is to signal the government’s intention to award a contract for these services to Dalhousie University Aquatron Laboratory, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2. Before awarding a contract, however, the government would like to provide other suppliers with the opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of satisfying the requirements set out in this Notice, by submitting a statement of capabilities during the ACAN posting period.

If other potential suppliers submit a statement of capabilities during this ACAN posting period that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the government will proceed to a full tendering process on either GETS or through traditional means, in order to award the contract.

If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a statement of capabilities meeting the requirements set out in the ACAN, a contract will be awarded to the pre-selected supplier.

BACKGROUND:

Atlantic Whitefish is listed as Endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act. Its global distribution is reduced to three small, interconnected lakes in the upper Petite Rivière watershed in southwest Nova Scotia (the Petite Lakes). The species is at critically low abundance and its continued survival is significantly threatened by the introduction of two highly predatory invasive fish species, Smallmouth Bass and Chain Pickerel.

A Recovery Strategy and Action Plan have been published. These documents outline the overall recovery goal for Atlantic Whitefish and the actions needed to achieve this goal. Range expansion is identified as the most viable option to prevent the species’ extinction and facilitate its recovery. Range expansion involves establishing additional self-sustaining Atlantic Whitefish populations outside of the Petite Lakes, which requires life-stages of fish in numbers that can establish viable populations.

To further this goal DFO collected wild juvenile Atlantic Whitefish in the spring of 2018. These fish were transferred from a DFO facility to the Dalhousie University Aquatron Laboratory in December, 2018. This contract is for the day-to-day care and raising of these fish and any additional fish collected in 2019. These fish will form the fundamental genetic broodstock for any future range expansion recovery efforts and are the only captive Atlantic Whitefish in the world.

The housing, rearing and future breeding of Atlantic Whitefish must be done in a suitable facility and must be undertaken by those with the necessary expertise. Dalhousie’s Aquatron is the largest university aquatic research facility in Canada. It has tanks in a variety of sizes, research spaces, and equipment perfect for accommodating a growing captive stock of Atlantic Whitefish. This facility is also backed by a mechanical system, which can provide high quality, temperature controlled seawater and freshwater year round, as well as a professional team of both biologists and mechanical operators who are available to run the systems and help meet research objectives. Additionally, Dalhousie University has aquatic veterinary expertise on campus that are involved in Aquatron operations. About the Aquatron: https://www.dal.ca/dept/aquatron/about.html. Dalhousie University also has previous experience with Atlantic Whitefish, as they were bred and raised in the Aquatron for use in graduate research projects (Cook et al. 2010/055; Cook 2012).