Special Notice: The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is awarding a Purchase Order for the purchase of Otolith Processing Equipment that includes the following items: purchase of Otolith Processing Equipment that includes the following items: 1) Resin Casting Molds - OTO 910; 2) Mounting Station - OTO 914; 3) Mini Fume Hood for Slide Preparation - OTO 919; 4) Starter Kit for Resin Mounting-OTO 925; 5) Mounting Station Complete (OTO-919, OTO-925, OTO-921); 6) OTO-Labcut 250 Floor Standing Abrasive Cutting Machine; 7) Additional Sectional Blade; 8) Leveling Station- OTO 911; 9) Stereo Viewing Station - OTO 940; and installation, travel, packing and delivery. The equipment is used for embedding, sectioning and mounting Otoliths for fish aging studies. This item is being purchased for the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Panama City Branch 3500 Delwood Beach Road, Panama City, FL. Source Justification: Benetec, Inc. is the only known manufacturer of Otolith preparation/processing equipment that allows for up to 50 Otoliths to be prepared and processed at one time instead of individual processing. The methodology is based on the preparation of very thin smooth sections of embedded Otoliths. This leads to excellent image quality in age determination and makes automated analysis possible. The procedure involves preparation of resin blocks with embedded Otoliths. The sectioning of the embedded blocks will get thin sections with smooth surfaces, mounting, and viewing of the thin sections for aging. Market Research: Consisted of extensive searches and discussions with other users of this equipment. There are no other manufacturers that will allow for processing of 50 otoliths at one time. A sources sought notice was posted on FedBizOpps on August 2, 2010 for a 7-day posting with no responses received.

 

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