Atlantic Health, Wealth and Sanity : 447 



tion of many of the fisheries it is necessary to organize international 

 boards for the control of the fishing areas. 



There is an idea as yet undeveloped and tried only in a limited way 

 which may change the present, not very bright, prospect for good fish- 

 ing. This is the idea that practically all of our efforts to secure food 

 from the sea are like hunting expeditions and not like agricultural 

 enterprises. On land, in most areas, men long ago gave up the effort 

 of trying to feed himself by gathering wild fruits and vegetables or 

 by shooting the natural game of the region. Instead he turned to the 

 cultivation of the soil and the raising of domesticated livestock. 



At sea we are still at the hunting stage; there are a few exceptions. 

 The European oyster is not entirely a natural production and in a 

 way has been domesticated. To some extent in England, but more 

 particularly in France, different varieties of oysters are bred and 

 raised under controlled conditions and profitably marketed. There 

 seems no inherent reason why the idea of sea-farming cannot be grad- 

 ually extended. This demands the development of methods of protec- 

 tion and control over certain shore areas. 



So far in America control of shellfish beds and of marine fisheries 

 seems to have been mostly negative in character and in results. 

 There has been, at least on the eastern seaboard, a steady pollution of 

 waters and a steady retreat of fishing areas farther and farther off- 

 shore. It is always possible, however, that once matters become suffi- 

 ciently desperate a concerted effort may be made to improve them. 

 There are examples of fisheries that have been successfulyl protected 

 and controlled and even built up after it would seem they were about 

 to become depleted. Someday we may find it profitable to make a real 

 effort to restore and render sanitary shallow waters for the cultiva- 

 tion of the American oyster; we may have a few rivers that are sweet 

 enough to attract an annual run of healthy shad; we may have lobster 

 farms and fish ranches. 



It is plain that there are many ways in which the Atlantic Ocean is 

 of value to man and that some of these ways could be assigned a dol- 

 lars-and-cents value and that in the future these values are likely to 

 become higher rather than lower. 



None of the values we have been discussing above, however, repre- 

 sent the true value of the ocean or the contribution which it makes 

 to human welfare. This value and contribution is something that can- 

 not be assigned a monetary value because it is too broad and deep and 

 comprehensive. The value and the strength of the ocean lies in its 



