Program for the Rescue of Entangled or Entrapped Marine Animals in Fisheries and Oceans Canada Gulf, Quebec and Maritimes Region

The purpose of this contract is to maintain a ready team to safely respond to and assist or release entangled or entrapped marine animals in the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Gulf, Quebec and Maritimes Regions. It aims to ensure the safe release of whales or small cetaceans from commercial fishing gear, thus providing both a direct mitigation for species currently listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), and decreasing damage to commercial fishing gear. The program has the added benefit of both improving communications with commercial fishers and the general public regarding marine animal conservation and providing an opportunity to collect data safely, that may contribute to scientific studies, to improve our understanding of these species. Conditional Set-Aside under the Federal Government Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) This is an open tender. However, it will be conditionally set-aside under the Government of Canada’s Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) if two or more bids have been received by Indigenous businesses who are certified under the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) criteria and who may be listed in the Government of Canada’s Indigenous Business Directory (https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1100100033057/1610797769658). If your Indigenous business is not yet registered in the Indigenous Business Directory, please do so at the link provided above. If bids from two or more Indigenous businesses are compliant with the terms of the Request for Proposal, the contracting authority will limit the competition to those Indigenous businesses and will not consider bids from any non-Indigenous businesses that may have been submitted. If the bids from the Indigenous businesses are found to be non-compliant or non-responsive or are withdrawn, such that fewer than two compliant bids from Indigenous businesses remain, bids from all of the non-Indigenous businesses that had submitted bids will then be considered by the contracting authority.