---
title: "CEFAS24-135 Contract for a ground truthing survey of The Wash and approaches"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-625caa9b-253f-46ce-b2c9-6b7e4b80fd36"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-625caa9b-253f-46ce-b2c9-6b7e4b80fd36"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-625caa9b-253f-46ce-b2c9-6b7e4b80fd36.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-625caa9b-253f-46ce-b2c9-6b7e4b80fd36.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "CEFAS"
published: "2024-11-14"
---

# CEFAS24-135 Contract for a ground truthing survey of The Wash and approaches

Buyer: CEFAS  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-625caa9b-253f-46ce-b2c9-6b7e4b80fd36

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## Summary

The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) has awarded a contract to Ocean Ecology Limited for a ground truthing survey of The Wash and its approaches, under the procurement ID CF-0406600D8d000003VQwdEAG. This procurement process falls under survey services in the industry category, specifically focusing on the monitoring of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The procurement stage is at the award phase, with the contract valued at £63,350 and spanning from 18 November 2024 to 31 March 2025. The project location is the East of England, United Kingdom, and it adheres to the open procedure procurement method, aiming to gather evidence to support conservation efforts for biogenic reefs in designated sites.

This tender provides substantial opportunities for businesses specialising in environmental surveys, particularly those focusing on marine ecosystems. Companies equipped with survey vessels and capable of conducting acoustic surveys are well-suited to take on such contracts. Furthermore, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from this type of contract as it is tailored to support their involvement. This project not only contributes to environmental conservation but also offers growth potential for businesses in the environmental and marine survey sectors.

## Notice

The Marine Protected Area (MPA) monitoring programme is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and through this programme, Cefas co-ordinates some of the evidence collection for the monitoring of MPAs in English waters. The Ross Worm Sabellaria spinulosa is a sedentary, epifaunal polychaete worm which builds tubes by consolidating particles of sediment (Limpenny et al, 2010). S. spinulosa is abundant in UK waters, largely existing in solitary form or within small, low-lying aggregations (Hayward and Ryland, 1990). However, under the right environmental conditions they also can establish dense colonies and form biogenic reefs. These biogenic reefs are protected as an Annex I habitat under the EU Habitats Directive (EEC, 1992), and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are designated for their protection. Important areas of consistently occurring reef have been found across The Wash where extensive areas of subtidal mixed sediments in the tide-swept approaches provide the right conditions for reefs to form, particularly in deeper waters. These reefs are an important but understudied feature of both The Wash and North Norfolk Coast (WNNC) SAC and Inner Dowsing, Race Bank and North Ridge (IDRBNR) SAC - named as 'The Wash and its approaches' hereafter. Requirement: With the aim of improving our understanding of the extent, distribution, and nature of S. spinulosa biogenic reef (i.e. reefiness) across The Wash and its approaches, Cefas are commissioning this contract to deliver a ground truthing survey. The evidence gathered in this acoustic survey will seek to allow for the identification of Annex I S. spinulosa reefs. This evidence will be used to support conservation advice, condition assessment and management of the WNNC SAC and the IDRBNR SAC, its designated sites and protected features, i.e. Reefs (including S. spinulosa biogenic reef) habitat. This information will inform statutory advice on MPAs and assist in the assessment of both SAC sites' condition.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7627733a-b7a9-4c13-b8c6-b009b6156f29 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure (below threshold) |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 14 Nov 2024 |
| Submission deadline | 29 Oct 2024 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 12 Nov 2024 |
| Contract period | 18 Nov 2024 - 31 Mar 2025 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £50,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £63,350 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | CEFAS |
| Locality | LOWESTOFT |
| Post town | Norwich |
| Postcode | NR33 0HT |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH6 Suffolk |
| ITL 3 | TLH63 East Suffolk |
| Local authority | East Suffolk |
| Electoral ward | Kirkley & Pakefield |
| Westminster constituency | Lowestoft |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | OCEAN ECOLOGY |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 34513550 - Survey vessels
- 79311000 - Survey services

## Release History

- 14 Nov 2024 at 12:59 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7627733a-b7a9-4c13-b8c6-b009b6156f29

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7627733a-b7a9-4c13-b8c6-b009b6156f29
  14th November 2024 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/9c23a607-6f4e-4a28-a20d-6fbca4d6d2a3
  CEFAS24-135 Short_Form_Contract - OEL - COMPLETE_Redacted

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-625caa9b-253f-46ce-b2c9-6b7e4b80fd36. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-625caa9b-253f-46ce-b2c9-6b7e4b80fd36.json.