UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

The Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) is funded through UK official development assistance as part of the UKs Blue Planet Fund. It aims to strengthen marine science expertise, develop science-based policy and management tools, and create educational resources for coastal communities under three main objectives described in terms of marine pollution, sustainable seafood, and marine biodiversity. It supports activities in partnership with country governments directed towards capacity building for marine science in local institutions organisations and communities. Despite the significant funding made available, ensuring programme outcomes are supported beyond the life of the programme will require securing long term resilient financial flows to sustain marine pollution and water quality activities established under the OCPP programme. Under the OCPP, Cefas will use existing experience of collaboration at an international level, to develop innovative science techniques and analyses with OCPP partner countries that address marine pollution challenges. The Supplier will design, organise and deliver a climate change teacher training pilot scheme in a minimum of two provinces of Sri Lanka, covering one urban location (e.g. Western province/Colombo) and one rural location, which will be identified by the supplier and agreed with Cefas, in Sinhala and Tamil languages. The pilot scheme will utilise physical and digital education material on climate change which have been previously produced by OCPP in collaboration with government partners in Sri Lanka, in English, Sinhala, Tamil. A sample of these materials is available in the Bidder Pack and the full materials will be provided in full to the successful Supplier at Contract inception. Additionally, we require the supplier to incorporate knowledge on how GEDSI impacts climate change into the training. The GEDSI section is to be designed by the supplier and will be reviewed by Cefas prior to delivery. This is expected to cover no more than 15 minutes of the full training time. The materials cover the following themes: • What is climate change; • Climate change and humans; • Climate change and the marine environment; and • What can we do to limit the effects of climate change.

The aim of this project is to establish an aquaculture data hub. This will provide a mapping interface with search and querying functionality to access information on aquaculture locations, sectoral production statistics and environmental performance, and host key position papers for the industry in one place, providing an essential resource for regulators (Defra, Cefas, MMO) policy teams, industry, researchers and the wider public. Importantly, the website will address a primary recommendation of the English Aquaculture Strategy (2020), published by Poseidon, which identified the limited availability of comprehensive information as a barrier to the development of the Aquaculture industry. The services covered under this procurement include stakeholder mapping and consultation, website development, governance and publicity.

Cefas require provision of 1 multi-channel CTD logger as follows: 1. Technical Requirement • Pressure rating required is 500dbar • Unit Material: Polyoxymethylene (POM) • Unit must have Fast 8Hz sampling • - Unit requires a Blank battery end-cap • - Must have option for Wi-Fi [2000dbar max] • - Unit to include a Cage for RBRconcerto or RBRmaestro with cone • - Unit must be inclusive of a Combined CT kit: Inductive marine with fast response temperature • [750dbar max] • - Unit to include Piezo resistive gauge included • - Unit to include Dissolved oxygen kit: T.ODO [bulkhead, 6000dbar max] • - Unit to include PAR kit: cosine [cabled, 0.6m, 2000dbar max] • - Unit to include Tridente kit: bb.chl-a.fDOM [cabled, 0.6m, 6000dbar max] 2. Environmental Considerations • Unit should have an ultra low power consumption. • Unit should be designed for reuse/remanufacture and of regenerative nature to eliminate waste where possible. • Consideration of how packaging will be managed. Ideally at the time of installation the supplier will remove packaging and dispose of by ethical and environmentally friendly methods. Where possible packaging is to be re-used or recycled. 3 Compatibility with existing hardware/software/equipment/operating systems • Must be compatible with Win11 4 Installation • No installation required – will be handled by Cefas 5 Ease of Maintenance • Any user maintainable aspects of the system should be described in the bid submission. This is to include any limitations where there are no user serviceable aspects. 6 Warranties, Guarantees, Servicing • Warranties will start from the point of acceptance of delivery and once it has been tested. Cefas expect minimum warranty period of 12 months to be included in the purchase.

The requirement is to work as a Collaboration with Cefas and other Coastal Health Shared Outcomes Fund programme partners to build on and test the CoHDEx tool developed under the pilot phase of the programme. This work is Research and Development. 1. Upscale the CoHDex tool to be fully robust at the national level (England). 2. Expand data available in the CoHDex database. 3. Trial and evaluate the use of the CoHDEx as part of a wider cross-government simulation exercise to improve preparedness and response to adverse events affecting the health of coastal organisms. 4. Produce a summary report of the further additions to the CoHDEx and evaluation of the tool. 5. Support the development of the Cefas Coastal Health Storymap on the Cefas website todisplay information about the CoHDex tool by providing content (e.g. images and text). 6. Case-study for CoHDEx in the Wash Estuary. 7. Provide quarterly reports on progress, risks and issues to the Coastal Health programme board.

3 year servicing contract for Waters laboratory equipment

The BEEMS (British EDF Estuarine and Marine Studies) programme is funded by NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited. Through this programme, Cefas provide authoritative scientific information on the marine and transitional waters in the vicinity of potential new build nuclear power stations. Cefas require a supplier to conduct intertidal Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) flights, in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guidelines, to monitor potential coastal change and intertidal algal coverage for the Hinkley Point C (HPC) Nuclear New Build project to meet regulatory environmental monitoring requirements. RPA flights and photography are required: (1) along the Hinkley Point foreshore, and; (2) at Combwich Wharf and the surrounding banks of the River Parrett. Flight/survey design and equipment specification must be sufficient for Cefas to create orthophotos (OPs) and Digital Surface Models (DSMs) with a Ground Sampling Distance ((GSD), i.e. resolution) of 3cm/pixel or better (exceptions are detailed in full Specification). Cefas requires that the Supplier’s flight team assumes full responsibility for the comprehensive management of all aspects of each survey. This includes, but is not limited to, planning (including securing all necessary access), issuing survey notifications in advance of each flight, liaising with NNB regarding other flight operators and ensuring the safe and successful execution of every survey with delivery of data as detailed in the Specification. The Contract will be awarded as soon as possible following notification of award, expected early September 2025, with the first Surveys due to start in October or November 2025, pending completion of all pre-survey health and safety requirements detailed above. The initial Contract period will be to 31 December 2026, with the option to extend by an additional 3 x 12-month periods, to be awarded annually, subject to funding, up to maximum end date of 31 December 2029. Please note that these extensions are not guaranteed. The total estimated budget of £625,000 (excluding VAT) covers the full potential Contract duration.

As part of an ongoing research project, Cefas is collaborating with Defra and industry partners to carry out dredge fishing surveys with the aim of determining harvestable biomass of king scallop in the main fishing grounds around England

Clean Catch, funded by Defra, is a collaborative programme that is key to the UK Government's ambitions to help minimise and - where possible - eliminate bycatch of sensitive marine species, as set out under the ecosystem objective of the Fisheries Act and elaborated in the UK Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI). Originally established in 2019, Clean Catch has now entered a second three year "expansion" phase, stewarded by a consortium of partners [Cefas, Arribada Initiative, MMO Consulting, Mindfully Wired Communications (MWC) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL)] which runs until the end of October 2026. The overarching objectives of the current phase are to expand its scope and trials for monitoring and mitigation of bycatch and enhance its role in knowledge exchange within and beyond the UK. Cefas are leading the delivery of two Clean Catch monitoring and mitigation trials, the first is the "Southwest cetacean bycatch mitigation trial in inshore gillnets" which started in May 2024 and the second is the "North Sea whitefish fishery seabird bycatch mitigation trial" which is currently in the co-design phase with the Clean Catch consortium and the vessel owners, skippers and Producer Organisation. The trials are for research and development purposes and not for compliance monitoring. Both trials have a local Fishery Liaison officer assigned to them to ensure regular and effective communication between the consortium and trialists. Cefas will provide contact details and an introduction to the Fishery Liaison officer on Contract award. Data on sensitive species bycatch associated with participating vessels in the Southwest cetacean mitigation trial is primarily collected using Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) and a skipper self-reporting smartphone application (the Clean Catch app). Although in the co-design phase of the North Sea whitefish fishery seabird bycatch mitigation trial, it is anticipated that REM will be the primarily scientific data collection tool. Whilst each trial is focused mitigating the bycatch of a specific taxa (cetaceans or seabirds) information about all sensitive species bycatch events is recorded as part of the monitoring during the trial. This procurement is sub-divided into two Lots as set out in the Specification of Requirements. Tenderers must make clear which Lot they are bidding for. Each Lot will be evaluated separately in accordance with the details set out in Section 4: Evaluation Methodology. The Buyer intends to award a Contract to the most advantageous tender (in accordance with Section 4: Evaluation Methodology) for each Lot. There are no limits to the number of Lots in which any one Tenderer can be awarded a Contract and if a Tenderer is successful in more than one Lot, the Buyer may enter into a single Contract for all Lots awarded to that Tenderer. Lot 1 - Southwest Cetacean Mitigation Trial Lot 2 - North Sea Whitefish Fishery Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Trial

Specialist Technical Marine Consultancy services required to support the development of a Project Business Case for a vessel refit/replacement and overseeing delivery of the business case ‘preferred option’.

To view this opportunity please go to https://atamis-9529.my.site.com/login You will need to log in or create a new supplier account. The opportunity can then be found searching 'CEFAS25-63 Macrofaunal Analysis'. This request for quotation is for the processing of the 41 macrofaunal samples: to extract and identify all biota retained following sieving on a 1.0 mm capture mesh, as per the NMBAQC guidelines detailing extraction and identification protocols. In addition to this there is a requirement to ensure these data are audited as per the NMBAQC Own Samples protocol prior to submission to Cefas (Hall, 2019). http://www.nmbaqcs.org/media/1764/os686970_summary-report.pdf. Enumeration, identification and biomassing to the lowest possible taxonomic level should be carried out following the NMBAQC Processing Requirement Protocol and Taxonomic Discrimination Protocol. Biomass (wet weight in grams to at least 4 d.p.) is required for all enumerable taxa. Balances must be serviced annually and a valid service certificate must be supplied with this tender. A single reference collection of all species/taxa identified should be returned to the Cefas laboratories in Lowestoft in an appropriate preservation liquid (i.e. 100% IDA or 70% IMS, 20% water and 10% glycerol). The reference collection should contain as a minimum the species name, name of identifier/ supervisor, station code, cruise code, date of collection and name of species identification verifier. A list of all taxa in the reference collection is also requested; in electronic form, with these details included. Notable taxa should be highlighted here such as non-native species and new or unusual records. Non-native species should be added to the Non-native Species Information Portal (NNSIP) (hosted on the Non-native Species Secretariat website, http://www.nonnativespecies.org/index.cfm?sectionid=81). The abundance and biomass data matrices should be in completed with, at minimum, the detail in the exemplar provided and, then sent via email to the above contacts following completion. All species names must be run through the WoRMS ‘Match Taxa’ tool so that all naming is current (http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=match). Quality assurance: Three samples from this contract are to be subject to an independent QA process following the requirements of the NMBAQC ‘own sample’ scheme assessment criteria with the scheme coordinator (or their assigned AQC lab). As this is also a project level audit the full data set will be quality assured; in addition to the samples selected to assess processing, additional taxa will be identified for review from the full data matrix. Any remedial action required following the AQC process must be completed within an agreed timeframe at no extra cost to the project, including any subsequent AQC needed. The AQC contract will be arranged by Cefas. The processing and audit laboratories will include Cefas in all communications relating to this contract and will work to ensure timely delivery. Deliverables: • Externally audited, quality-controlled abundance and biomass matrices with current nomenclature (Primary processing and Audit lab) • Reference collection (Primary processing lab) • Internal Quality Control logs (Primary processing lab) • Audited Quality Control report (Audit lab) • Weekly project summary updates and correspondence between primary processing and audit lab (Primary processing and Audit lab) Data delivery: 1. Primary analysis to be completed by end November 2025 2. Fully AQC’d data by end of December 2025. 3. Reference collection to Cefas January 2026. Quantity: 41 mini Hamon grab samples (details of the samples can be found in table 1 below). Location: Samples are available for collection, by the successful contractor, as soon as possible following contract allocation from the storage facility in Lowestoft. Please include a cost to acknowledge this requirement. Details of the sample collection are to be confirmed following contract allocation and samples must be transported safely and securely.

The Coastal Health programme would like to build upon the previous community science work carried out by NHM in the pilot phase of the programme through the following activities. Underwater Forests community science study: • Maintain the existing study of Underwater Forests, supporting existing volunteers to collect data. • Curate the data and make it publicly available. • Evaluate the quality of the data collected. • Produce a final report summarising: • The methods chosen and trialled to recruit volunteers, collect and curate data on coastal organisms as indicators of coastal health, • Key findings from the data collected, • Findings from the evaluation exercise and recommendations for future Coastal Health community science studies. Community Science for Healthy Coasts: • Building on initial engagement led by the NHM under the pilot phase of Coastal Health, identify and engage with existing citizen science organisations and partnerships that undertake coastal monitoring, to help Cefas establish a network/partnership for advancing coastal health through community science, including NGOs, government bodies and existing coastal partnerships. • Building on the findings of the Underwater Forests study, work with the above partnership to develop a toolkit for a future coastal health-focused community science monitoring study to address gaps in existing monitoring programmes. The contents of this toolkit may include methods and recommendations for: recruiting volunteers, user-testing resources, data collection and quality assurance protocols, and communication approaches. Deliverables: 1. A summary report of the methods, findings and evaluation of the Underwater Forests Community Science study. To be delivered by – 20th March 2026 2. Underwater Forests survey data to be made open access on NHM data ecosystem. To be delivered by – As soon as possible and no later than 20th March 2026 3. A toolkit for a coastal health community science study that supports the monitoring of the health of UK coastal ecosystems. To be delivered by - 20th March 2026 4. Reporting progress and risks at a monthly meeting with Cefas and providing quarterly financial and progress reports to the programme board. To be delivered monthly and quarterly, ending by 31st March 2026

The Blue Belt Programme is the UK Government’s international marine conservation programme. It works closely with 10 UK Overseas Territories (UKOT) to assist them in creating and maintaining healthy and productive marine ecosystems. This programme has been central to the UK Government’s ambition of leading action to tackle the serious global problems of overfishing, species extinction and climate change. Protecting over 4 million kilometres squared of ocean, the programme is vital in meeting the UK’s commitments through the Global Biodiversity Framework, the 30by30 target, and UN Ocean Decade. In January 2026, the Blue Belt programme will undertake a scientific expedition around the Caribbean Islands of Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and the Cayman Islands, collectively representing around 365,000 km2 of UKOT seas. The survey will provide scientific research and capacity building across several scientific disciplines, including oceanographic, hydrographic and ecological studies. Research will include seafloor mapping, ocean biogeochemistry, and marine biodiversity monitoring. There will also be one day spent in port at each territory, providing an opportunity for engagement with UKOT communities and to accept visitors on board. Aligning with the 10-year anniversary of the Blue Belt Programme in 2026, the Caribbean Survey presents a significant and rare opportunity to showcase UK marine science capability and outreach in the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories. It builds on the success of previous surveys, such as the Discovery 159 expedition around the islands of Ascension and St Helena in 2022. The research generated from this expedition continues to support these territories in managing and protecting their marine protected areas. The expedition also raised national and international awareness of the programme through an award-winning documentary ‘Voyage of Discovery’ narrated by Ellie Goulding, extensive media coverage, and a digital campaign reaching over 14,000 accounts. We are keen to build on this success with the communication outputs from the 2026 Caribbean expedition. We are looking for an experienced, passionate storyteller who can communicate our story through powerful imagery and film footage to a diverse range of audiences, from school children, students, scientists, environmentalists, and policy makers. The details In total, the survey will last 44 days (12 days per Overseas Territory plus transit between) and will provide scientific and capacity building support. The scientific and technical crew will board the RRS James Cook, a multidisciplinary vessel, in the Dominican Republic on the (13/01/2026), before sailing to Anguilla (15/01 - 26/01) for the first leg of the survey. After this, the vessel will transit to Turks and Caicos (29/01 - 09/02) before heading to the Cayman Islands (13/02-25/02). The expedition will conclude in Tampa, Florida (28/02/2026). Dates are still subject to some variation so the Supplier must have availability a few days either side of this. Cefas will arrange all travel for the successful supplier and their equipment to and from the mobilisation and de mobilisation locations. Requirement: On behalf of The Blue Belt Programme, the Supplier will provide videography and photography services that can support the on board Blue Belt Communications Lead to achieve the following objectives: • Capture impactful imagery and video material to significantly enhance Blue Belt outreach and storytelling. Bring to life activities undertaken on the survey to effectively explain how the survey will support the UKOTs, grow scientific understanding and enhance marine protection. • Showcase and raise awareness of the value of the scientific survey within the broader context of global ocean threats and the importance of high-quality data for evidence driven decision-making related to marine protected area, such as assessments of marine pollution, fisheries sustainability, and biodiversity monitoring. • Document innovative scientific activity and new research methods conducted in remote and unique locations that are previously uncharted and not known to science. • Describe a wide range of marine biodiversity. • Through personal stories demonstrate the ‘people behind’ Blue Belt science impact, including interviews with the crew and documenting capacity building support provided to UKOTs through training and development opportunities. • Deliver timely communications outputs to capture activity on board and ensure high quality content across a broad range of activities. • Identify interesting and engaging stories throughout the journey and opportunities for visual storytelling to ensure that they are captured for communications. Example content required: Content will focus on capturing the scientific work being undertaken, biodiversity encountered and the collaboration between UK and Overseas Territories’ colleagues. Examples include: • Video interview/clips from scientists, Overseas Territory representatives and other Blue Belt partners on-board, detailing work they are doing and why. • Photos of interesting and eye-catching marine species the survey encounters. • Images of the UKOTs themselves, their unique features and biodiversity, the individuals from the territories and scientific work undertaken there. • Capture images or video of equipment being used and deployed as part of the survey. • Document collaboration, knowledge sharing and training between UK and UKOT colleagues. • Wide shots of the vessel, scientific equipment in use and marine/overseas territory landscape using drone footage. • Live stream footage from the ship into UKOT/UK schools to showcase work, hear from scientists and give a flavour of life on board. Deliverables: 1. To collect footage for 3 X 5 min film, or one full length 15 min documentary film to be delivered at the end of the expedition. (mp4). 2. Selection of 50 x pieces of ‘best bits’ footage varying from 30 seconds -2 mins long (mp4) to be delivered after the expedition. Up to 15 pieces of short reels/footage to be delivered throughout the expedition for social media/comms purposes. 3. 3-5 talking head videos edited and posted through the expedition. 4. To collect 100 X high-quality photos for use in other Blue Belt comms materials (JPEGS). 5. Transfer of all content to Cefas in the required file formats by SharePoint secure link or We Transfer.

Contract for the Charter of the stand-by vessel 'Waterfall' for the re-deployment of of a wave rider at our Firth of Forth Site 56°11.268N, 2°30.235W

Contract for the yearly Qiagen Instruments Maintenance 2025-2026 to maintain instruments located at the Weymouth Laboratory

Contract for 12 Months service cover for an Agilent 6495 QQQ and 1290 II infinity UPLC system. This system is used to deliver Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland biotoxin monitoring contracts.

Project for developing AI-assisted histopathology diagnosis using HALO software to train image analysis algorithms for recognising tissue and cell types based on morphological criteria. Halo is a software package that is used for the image analysis of histological samples. Image analysis is typically used for the quantification of numerous tissue types and cells based on specific staining and morphological criteria, Halo incorporates an AI module that can be trained to recognise tissues and cells based on both morphological criteria. This software will be used for developing the use of AI for histopathology diagnosis.

Calibrating carbon reactivity analytical services to determine the properties in marine sediment samples for the Carbon Management Programme Calibration of carbon reactivity. University of Leeds (UoL) offers analytical services to determine the following properties in marine sediment samples: • 200 determinations of the delta13C isotopic composition of total organic carbon (TOC); • 100 determinations of the mass fraction of total Fe (FeT); • 100 determinations of the mass fraction of reactive Fe (FeR); • 100 determinations of the relative mass fractions FeR/FeT; • 100 determinations of the mass fraction of TOC;

Cefas have a requirement for significant back-end updates to the Cefas intranet. Problem statement The structure, properties and content of the intranet are now in need of considerable maintenance to reflect the new Science directorate organisation and Cefas’ strategic direction. This is not achievable using existing Cefas resource and expertise and these Services will provided by the Supplier. Proposed solution Providing science with a prominent presence will demonstrate a clear commitment to its value within the organisation, enabling colleagues to access information and resources more quickly and intuitively. . Sections 3.1-3.5 below outline changes needed to improve intranet functionality. Establishing a new hierarchy for Science First, we want a new header section at Level 1 for Our Science (as we have for My Employment & HR / Resources and Support etc). Some of the current tiles under Science in the Our Org section can then be moved, ready for content revision. Refer later in this document. Once a new header tab has been established (Figure 3), we will want to create a number of tiles that then hold further information – refer ppt Sci Drivers v5.5 Automatic deletion of items • Secondly, we wish to configure news items and events to automatically be deleted after 13 months and two weeks respectively, with a mechanism for news page owners to be alerted to the proposed deletion one month prior, with an option to keep it. • To develop a back-office scenario that for all news items: o Page owners alerted after 12 months that item will be deleted within four weeks from date of email alert and to action if item to be retained o If no action taken to retain then items are automatically deleted after four weeks from notification. • To develop a back-office scenario that all event listings are automatically deleted after two weeks of the event’s occurrence 3.3 Configure search bar outcomes Third, we want to be able to automate a report that collates all hits, likes and comments relating to news items posted one week from publication, each month and each quarter. • Create a method or running reports which can provide data on news items published between specific dates. This would be used to create monthly and quarterly reports. It would need to include the following data: news item title, news topic, number of views, number of likes and number of comments. • This might be presented as an online dashboard or exported as an excel file. 3.4 Fix ‘Save for Later’ • To fix the ‘Save for Later' option on intranet news items. Currently clicking ‘Save for Later’ does not allow users to do so. Update search function for Teams Area Create a clickable A-Z bar along the top of the Teams page so people can quickly navigate to the team page they are looking for. Assumptions • It has been assumed that underlying network architecture is already in place and requires minor amendment to enable Science section to be established. • It has been assumed that all materials (content) can be uploaded at different times after the architecture has been established to facilitate a rolling update to content, as opposed to a ‘big bang’ data upload • It has been assumed that a proposed development platform will significantly increase the cost for this update, therefore StormID will assess the deployment of the solution with minimum impact of users in the live environment and provide details to Cefas before implementing it. • It has been assumed that automatic deletion of items can be overwritten on an individual basis. • It has been assumed that the development of an automated report as required will not take significant costs or required in excess of half a day’s development.