Juvenile Sportfish Community and Habitat Suitability in Florida Bay

This Request for Statement of Interest (RSOI) seeks qualified research organizations (members of the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units) to conduct a multi‑year ecological monitoring program in Florida Bay. The project will assess juvenile sportfish (especially spotted seatrout) community composition, abundance, and habitat suitability in relation to hydrologic changes driven by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Funding is provided via a cooperative agreement with a base‑year ceiling of $350,000 and the potential for up to four additional 12‑month follow‑on periods, subject to funding availability. The effort includes mandatory field sampling, data analysis, regular reporting, and participation in RECOVER technical meetings, with optional tasks for advanced data synthesis and modeling. • Location: Florida Bay, Florida (USACE Jacksonville District jurisdiction) • Eligible applicants: Only CESU members in Gulf Coast, Piedmont‑South Atlantic, or South Florida‑Caribbean regions • Funding: $350,000 base year (mandatory tasks) + up to $2.5 M total ceiling for optional/follow‑on work • Period of performance: 12‑month base period, with up to four additional 12‑month extensions • Deliverables: Quarterly status reports, annual reports, final report, data sets, and optional modeling products • Key tasks: Project initiation meeting, monthly juvenile sportfish and submerged vegetation sampling, data analysis, participation in RECOVER meetings, optional monitoring plan review, system status report development, habitat‑suitability modeling, and temporal expansion of sampling.