Telemetry equipment

Tender description

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust are undertaking a study in the spring of 2018 and spring of 2019 on the migration of Atlantic salmon and sea trout smolts through 4 estuaries in the English French Channel area. This work forms part of an EU Interreg Channel Programme funded project called SAMARCH (SAlmonid MAnagement Round the CHannel) https://interreg5a-fce.eu/en/news-and-events/news/protecting-our-wildlife-project-samarch-to-improve-management-of-salmon-and-sea-trout-populations-in-the-english-channel/ In addition we will be tracking sea trout kelts using acoustic tags. The required equipment will be used to tag and track salmonid smolts and kelts from freshwater and through the initial marine stage of their migration. Smolt transmitters Required: 480 acoustic transmitters (tags) for internal tagging of salmon and sea trout smolts (fish length: 10-25 cm). Specifications: The transmitters must enable individual identification and have guaranteed unique ID codes for all tags internationally. The transmitters must be smaller than 6 mm in diameter for fish welfare. The battery life of half the transmitters (240) must exceed 70 days, operating at a nominal ping rate of 30 seconds and the battery life in the other half of the transmitters (240) must exceed 120 days with a nominal ping rate of 30 seconds for the first 14 days followed by a nominal ping rate of 60 seconds. The ping delays must be random (not fixed) to avoid continues tag collision. The transmitters must have a power output of more than 140 dB re 1uPa @1m. The transmitters must operate at a high frequency transmission protocol to minimise overlapping pings, but the frequency must be less than 200 KHz to maximise detection efficiency in both fresh and salt water. The tags must be compatible with the receivers used for the kelt tags (see below). Kelt transmitters Required: 200 acoustic transmitters (tags) for internal tagging of sea trout kelts (length: 40-70 cm). Specifications: The transmitters must enable individual identification and have guaranteed unique ID codes for all tags internationally. The transmitters must be smaller than 10 mm in diameter for fish welfare. The battery life must exceed 18 month, operating at a nominal ping rate of 30 seconds. The ping delays must be random (not fixed) to avoid continues tag collision. The transmitters must have a power output of more than 140 dB re 1uPa @1m. The transmitters must operate at a high frequency transmission protocol to minimise overlapping pings, but the frequency must be less than 200 KHz to maximise detection efficiency in both fresh and salt water. The tags must be compatible with the receivers used for the smolt tags (see above). Acoustic receivers Required: 25 acoustic receivers to detect the above transmitters. Specifications: The acoustic receivers must be compatible with both the smolt transmitters and the kelts transmitters mentioned above. The battery life of the receivers must be at least 8 months. The receivers must be compact, easy to attach to moorings, as well as able to endure prolonged submersion in both fresh and salt water. The receivers must also facilitate quick data download while in a boat at sea. Acoustic receiver for active tracking Required: 1 acoustic receiver for manual tracking of transmitters. Specifications: The receiver must enable mobile manual tracking of individual coded transmitters (e.g. smolt and kelt tags) from a small boat in both fresh and salt water and must be supplied with hydrophones that enable both directional and non-directional tracking. The receiver must be compatible with both the smolt and kelt transmitters. Range testing tags Required: 2 range testing tags to optimise receiver location. Specifications: The range testing tags must be constantly pinging and compatible with the above-mentioned receivers. Additional required equipment Any additional equipment required for the above equipment to function must be included in the tender (i.e. tag activators, tools and software for data download etc.). Costumer service The provider must have local technical support / inventory / servicing / consumables available within the UK. Delivery schedule 1.10.2017:1 range testing tag; 1 acoustic receiver for active tracking; 25 acoustic receivers. 1.11.2017: 100 kelt transmitters. 1.3.2018:240 smolt transmitters. 1.11.2018:1 range testing tag; 100 kelt transmitters. 1.3.2019: 240 smolt transmitters.