Atlantic Sea Scallop Charter Vessel Search

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Competition is now open for a contract to provide a chartered vessel and crew to conduct an Atlantic sea scallop survey. This survey is currently conducted along the U.S. continental shelf from New England to the Mid-Atlantic region, including the U.S. waters of Georges Bank. The vessel and crew will survey sometime between May and July 2024, ideally in June. The contract includes a base performance year, and four option years. The deadline to respond to this contract opportunity is April 5, 2024 by 2:00 p.m. ET.

How Vessel Owners Apply

Interested parties will need to register with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) and provide NOAA’s Western Acquisitions Division with requirements outlined in the Sam.gov contract opportunity. Please contact Amanda Rossiter with any questions.

What We’re Looking For

The minimum vessel specifications include:

• Sufficient berth space and lavatory facilities for crew members and 7 to 9 scientific personnel
• Mess/galley for 6 scientists
• Fuel and potable water capacity to operate continuously for 10 sea days
• Adequate deck space to accommodate a scientific lab (8 foot x 20 foot container)
• Equipment to monitor vessel speed, direction, bearing and water depth
• Modern navigation equipment
• Communications equipment (radios, cell phone, email capability)
• Freezer storage for scientific samples (minimum 20 cubic feet, separate from frozen food stores)
• Safety equipment required by the U.S. Coast Guard (EPIRBs, survival suits for each of the vessel’s crew and captain, life rafts for both crew and scientists)
• Fishing equipment for deploying scallop dredges or autonomous vehicles and powering spooling winches for gear deployment

How Scallop Dredge Survey Data Are Used

Atlantic sea scallop dredge survey data are used in a variety of ways, including:

• Determine the abundance, distribution, recruitment and size composition of Atlantic sea scallops
• Collect meat, gonad and whole weight at scallop shell height data, as well as tracking the presence of scallop diseases
• Track abundance of sea scallop predators such as sea stars and rock and Jonah crabs, as well as finfish bycatch
• Inform fishery management advice to identify new rotational sea scallop areas, and as well as to help estimate allocations to the scallop fishery, including spatial allocations to existing rotational access areas
• Understand the potential impact of offshore wind on survey operations

Survey data helps managers make informed decisions about the fisheries we care about. The U.S. sea scallop fishery is extremely important to our country’s economy and is the largest wild scallop fishery in the world. In 2022, commercial landings of Atlantic sea scallop totaled 31.6 million pounds of sea scallop meats and were valued at $478 million.

Contact Information

For more Sea Scallop Survey information, please contact:

Peter Chase

Branch Chief, Ecosystems Surveys Branch

(508) 495-2348

Chad Keith

Shellfish Survey Program Lead, Ecosystems Surveys Branch

(401) 366-4851

For more contracting information, please contact:

Amanda Rossiter 

Contract Specialist, Western Acquisitions Division

(206) 526-6043