CEFAS22-68 - Request for Quotation for Marine benthic macroinvertebrate sample processing: Orford Inshore 2021

Tender description

The Marine Conservation Zone monitoring in Orford Inshore MCZ encompassed the collection of 54 replicate samples at 34 stations in Orford Inshore MCZ. These 54 samples are part of a wider sampling programme (see Orford Inshore Survey Report) from which 63 have already been processed. The replicate samples were collected with a Hamon Grab and the sediment was sieved through a 1.0 mm mesh sieve. All benthic organisms were transferred into 2.5, 5 and 10L buckets and fixed with 4 % formaldehyde. This request for quotation is for the processing of 54 sediment samples, to extract and identify all biota retained following sieving on a 1.0 mm mesh, as per the NMBAQC guidelines (http://www.nmbaqcs.org/media/1175/nmbaqc-inv-prp-v10-june2010.pdf) 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 (Milner and Hall, 2016). http://www.nmbaqcs.org/media/1665/ownsampleprotocol_v12_ra.pdf. Enumeration, identification and biomassing should be carried out following the NMBAQC Processing Requirement Protocol and Taxonomic Discrimination Protocol. Biomass to species level (wet weight in grams to at least 4 d.p.) is required for all countable taxa. Balances must be serviced annually, and a valid service certificate must be supplied with this tender. From experience, these samples can take up to 10 hours each to process and identified number of taxa per replicate has averaged 65 [A sample species list for the 2012 survey at this site is included in attached documents]. All fauna alive at the time of fixation must be extracted from the sediment, including those within shells and rocks.