20--Special Notice of Intent to Sole Source Award

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service intends to award a sole source contract to Magic Valley Heli-Arc & Mfg., Inc. for the purchase of a Magic Valley Heli-Arc Fishpump. This equipment is needed to support essential fish-handling operations at Service facilities, including hatchery, transport, and resource-management activities. The Heli-Arc Fishpump is uniquely designed to minimize handling stress, scale loss, and mortality while maintaining high-volume pumping capacity. • The pump is required for mission-critical fisheries programs, including brood stock collection, spawning operations, and fish distribution. • Failure to obtain the appropriate pump would delay scheduled operations and risk harm to live fish, compromising program objectives and compliance requirements. • The primary barrier to competition is the unique engineering and biological-handling design of the Magic Valley Heli-Arc Fishpump. • Other pumps risk injury to fish due to excessive pressure, turbulence, or inadequate material construction, and are not compatible with existing hose fittings and transfer systems.