Sources Sought - Sexton deep water camera systems or equivalent

NOAA – National Marine Fisheries Service – Alaska Fisheries Science Center – Sexton Corporation Rugged Trawl Deepwater Camera Systems or Equivalent

This is a Sources Sought Notice in preparation for an upcoming procurement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) is conducting market research to determine potential sources for brand name or equal to a Sexton Corporation Rugged Trawl Deepwater camera system.

The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 334511 – Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing. The small-business size standard for this NAICS code is 1,350 employees.

• A draft Statement of Need (SON) is provided for informational purposes only.

Standard brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this notice. Submitted Capability Statements shall include the following:

General Information: Provide the company name and address, Unique Entity Identifier, Cage Code, type of business under NAICS code 334511 (e.g. Small business, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and/or women owned small business; or other than small business) as validated via the System for Award Management (SAM), and company point of contact including name, phone number, and e-mail address.

Capabilities: Demonstrate how your firm has the products and capabilities to meet all requirements in the statement of need.

Documentation Comments: In order to facilitate the exchange of information with industry, provide any comments, questions, or suggestions that pertain to the statement of need included with this notice. Identify any areas that appear ambiguous or otherwise unclear.

Interested vendors are invited to submit an electronic response to this Sources Sought Notice to Jason Jenks, Contracting Officer, via e-mail at: jason.jenks@noaa.gov no later than 05:00 p.m. Eastern on July 06, 2026. Capability Statements and Documentation Comments must be submitted in writing; telephonic inquiries will not receive a response.

This is not a request for technical or price quotations. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or reimburse for costs incurred by interested parties providing the information requested herein.

STATEMENT OF NEED

Sexton Corporation Rugged Deep Water Camera Systems or equivalent

PURPOSE: In order to determine groundfish populations in targeted areas, researchers use a combination of methods to assess resident migration in those areas, including bottom and midwater trawls. Using rugged underwater cameras during trawl deployments allows researchers to gain more accurate estimates of fish numbers in the target populations and reduce onbard labor during specimen processing.

BACKGROUND: NMFS’ Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering division engages in research projects which target critical environmental factors which affect marine organism survivability, reproduction, and development. By determining population residence and movement in areas of high commercial, industrial, or military activity, researchers can study the affects of those activities on the behaviors and development of the target species. Researchers then use the data to recommend dynamic fisheries closure or special study areas.

SCOPE: The Contractor shall furnish and deliver the underwater camera systems listed in Statement of Need. Delivery needs to be made no later than 01-Nov-2026 to the NMFS RACE Research Facility in Seattle, WA.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS/SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS: The Contractor shall furnish and deliver Sexton Corporation Rugged Trawl Deepwater camera system s or equivalent that meets the following specifications/salient characteristics:

I. Run off an external battery pack in a separate housing for longer run times (> 1 h) with a 12-24 V input. The battery pack does not need to be provided by the vendor.

II. Collect video with up to 15 fps from one camera and fully synchronized still images at a minimum of 4 fps from the second camera. The synchronized stills from the “video” camera must be saved as separate still images.

III. Provide operation at a depth up to 750 m.

IV. Will not corrode with continuous saltwater use.

V. Provide a gigabit Ethernet connection for interfacing with the camera, adjust settings and download image data.

VI. Provide a logic level output to indicate that the system is operating, and an output synchronized with image exposure to trigger an external strobe. Strobes do not need to be provided by the vendor.

VII. Use high quality optics with a 60–80-degree horizontal field of view. Individual cameras should be separated by a minimum of 12 cm.

VIII. Produce minimum 3.2 Mp resolution images and operate using a global shutter.

IX. Dimensions: less than 12 in x 8 in x 8 in and weigh less than 15 lb in air.

X. Images must be recorded on the system for autonomous operation. Still images should be saved in JPEG or similar format. Video should be encoded using x264 or h264 and stored in MP4 or MKV formatted files. The user should be able to specify that images from each camera are stored as stills, video, or both.

XI. The camera systems must include at a minimum orientation, system voltage, and depth sensors. Data from these sensors, synchronized with image collection, should be written to an image metadata database.

XII. The camera systems must include a real-time clock and the clock must synchronize over the Ethernet network using NTP. The NTP server address must be configurable.

XIII. The camera systems should automatically shut down when the input voltage drops below a programmable setpoint.

XIV. The camera system should turn on and off at configurable depths and a method must be provided to turn on the cameras at the surface for maintenance and download.

XV. The camera systems must provide live image viewing through a network connection.