25/00530 - Framework agreement for the purchase of identification and biomass measurement of Polychaeta (bristleworms).

Kort beskrivelse

The assignment is connected to the MAREANO programme that maps bottom habitates and communities in Norwegian sea areas as well as bathymetry, geology, biology and chemistry. The mapping focuses on both common and vulnerable nature types and biotopes, as well as on species diversity and biological production in the bottom environment. The results will be published in www.mareano.no and shall contribute to obtaining information for the management of marine ecosystems in connection with. decisions on future call-offs of ocean resources. The executing work is managed by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research in close cooperation with the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) and the Norwegian Mapping Authority. MAREANO is headed by a management group composed of representatives from five ministries, while ongoing planning and operation is being carried out by the Program Group which consists of several directorates and the three executive institutions (see www.mareano.no). In order to obtain ground data for research on diversity of species and bioproductiveity under the MAREANO programme, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research would like to enter into a framework agreement for species identification, individual counting and biomass surveying of multi-market land (Polychaeta). The main contract will be valid for 2 years from when it is signed, with an option for a further 2 years. The above mentioned options involve no obligation for the Contracting Authority. The contracting authority is free to trigger one or all of the options for extending the framework agreement. The total contract value including options is estimated to a maximum of NOK 6,000,000 , excluding VAT. The stated estimate for the maximum financial value of call-offs under this framework agreement does not involve any obligations for the Contracting Authority to make call-offs or procurements equivalent to the estimated total value.

Hovedtrekk ved prosedyren

Biological materials for this assignment are collected from the bottom in all areas within Norwegian sea management, namely in the North Sea and Skagerrak, the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea, coastal areas including fjords and waters around Svalbard including parts of the Arctic Ocean. Test taking is planned at all depths, from the basic parts of the continental shelf, then from the continental slope and then from the largest depths in the mentioned areas to a maximum of 4000-5,000 m.Each year the benthic fauna will be collected by HI for the Mareano project, from 20-30 stations. On each station it is taken: A sample of trawl (tometer-wide beam trawl or Agassiz) that is hauled with 1.5 knots for 5 min. Some samples with van Veen grab. Shallower than 500 m we take five grab samples of 0.1 m2 per station, whilst at a larger depth we take two grab samples of 0.25 m2 per station. All samples are to be flushed and aimed at each other. The mask size of visibility is 1 mm for grab samples and 5 mm for trawl samples. All samples are fixed in 4% neutralised formalin on board. Ashore formalin is taken away, samples are flushed in water, put on pure ethanol, sorted into animal groups and sent out for species identification to equivalent experts. As a rule, Polychaeta occurs in all samples. The amount of samples that Mareano collects each year (20-30 stations as described above) will be divided into 2-3 dispatches per annum. The contracting authority will send a form (an Excel spreadsheet) with expedition numbers, station numbers, tool names and numbers, as well as the name of the sample taking area of the contracting authority (see an example of the registration form in annex 8 and the guideline in annex 9). The result of the development (species name/tax name, individual number and weight values) must be entered in this form and sent to the contracting authority. The results submitted in a different form than the stated form will not be approved. The tenderer must submit the result of sample preparation within 5 (five) months of the dispatch being received. A precise amount of material that shall be prepared by the supplier will be notified before each dispatch. If there event. if there is a need for the tenderer to develop Polychaeta from more than 30 stations for one year, the deadline for delivery of the results will be discussed separately. There is a requirement that a minimum of 70% of the total number of Polychaeta per tool and per station is identifiable to species level. If this requirement is not met, the contracting authority can require a more detailed identification of species. All individuals of each nature or of each taxon of higher level in cases when it is impossible to identify to the species level, shall be counted, and the total wet weight of each species or each zone of higher level in each sample shall be measured. If an animal is discovered not polychaeta, but came into the test by errors during spot sorting, the contracting authority must not identify them. However, such misorted animals must be marked with station data and sent back to the contracting authority. As a starting point, the sample shall be entirely built up, with the exception of samples with unusually large numbers of multi-brush markings. Then it can be allowed to develop only one sample part (subsample). Special rules concern weighing pipe building brushworms. They should be weighed without pipes. Because it can be time consuming to pull the maggots out of the pipes, in some cases it is allowed to take a subsample, i.e. to count all individuals of a certain nature from the entire sample, then get a portion of them out of the pipes, weigh that part and then convert to the species weight for the entire sample. The main rule is that at least 25 individuals, but not less than 25% of the entire number of individuals of a certain nature in the sample, should be weighed without pipes. In cases of very large samples (number of individuals of individual species more than 300) it can be assessed to take a subsample of less than 25%. Each individual case when the tenderer plans to subsampling, regardless of whether the total number of markers in the sample is involved or only a large number of plumbing species, a prior agreement must be agreed with the contracting authority. The contracting authority reserves the right not to approve the subsampling if this is not well justified. After the preparation has been completed, the tenderer must place each species/each taxon from each sample on their own container/separate glass with a separate sample patch. The sample patch must include information on expedition numbers, station numbers, tool names and numbers, as well as species names/names of higher tax zones. The print template for sample tags will be sent by the contracting authority to the tenderer. Ready marked samples must be sent to the University Museum in Bergen, which has an agreement with the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research for long term testing storage.