OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 91 



Mr. McKernan. Yes, there will be a curb in some of this activity. 

 We expect, for example, in fiscal year 1960, that fiscal year begin- 

 ning in July, to do a great deal of this work through chartering the 

 Delaware ; in other words, to more efficiently use our vessel, the 

 Delaware. We are anticipating that our sea work will be somewhere 

 in the neighborhood of 110 days during the next fiscal year, whereas 

 we had anticipated about 150 days this year with the Alhatross or a 

 net i-eduction of somewhere in the neighborliood of 40 days. 



The funds from that net reduction will be spent in attempting to 

 analyze the data that have been collected in a more complete manner 

 than has been possible in the past few years. 



Mr. DoRN. How many trawlers have you hired ? 



^li\ McKernan. Now, in general, as I recall the figure, we have 

 .nartered about four, I think, up there recently at vapious times. 

 These are short-term charters when we have a cruise and then, as I 

 said before, we will charter our own boat and operate it 21 hours a 

 day by increasing the crew. Thei-eby we are increasing the use of the 

 DeJaumre. She has been operated on a l^-liour-a-da}-' basis recently. 



Mr. Dorin^. Do you have any trawlers that have been chartered at 

 the present time ? 



Mr. McKernan. Eight at the moment I do not think we have, but 

 in the very recent past we have chartered some trawlers. Last fall, 

 Mr. Eckles of our Research Division informs me, we chartered a 

 trawler for scallop research. 



Mr. DoRX. Actually you have not chartered any trawlers to replace 

 the work that the Albatross did do ? 



Mr. McKernan. At the present time we liave not. The Albatross 

 was decommissioned on the 9th of this month so that there have been 

 no charters at the present time. 



Mr. DoRisr. So that your answer to the chairman that you chart- 

 ered trawlers to replace the Avork that the Albatross v,^as doing is 

 not entirely exact. 



Mr. McKerxan. Well now, I am very sorry if I misinformed the 

 chairman. The Delaware is a trawler type boat. It operated as a 

 trawler before we took her over and she is our exf)loratory fishing 

 boat in New England. 



We have right at the moment, for example, cruises during tliis 

 coming month planned for the Delaware to handle some of tlie work 

 that the Albatross was doing so that I attempted, as best I could, to 

 answer the chairman's question correctly. I did not mean to mislead 

 him. 



Mr. Miller. 1 may say, Mr. Dorn, that maybe I did not put it cor- 

 rectly because I did not mean to imply that any work had actually 

 been done and contracts entered into but in this letter to Senator 

 Saltonstall, which perhaps you have not seen, they pointed out that 

 they would charter trawlers. I should have put it that way. 



Mr. Dorn. This action was not contemplated when you requested 

 funds for this fiscal year, was it? 



Mr. McKernan. The decision to deactivate the Albatross had not 

 been made at that time, Mr. Dorn. Action on the Albatross has been 

 considered every year since I have been back here, which is only 2 

 years by the way, but a consideration of the Albatross and her expen- 

 sive operation and less-than-efficient operation has been considered 



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