The Council has selected several areas for additional emphasis in 

 Fiscal Year 1969, and is recommending that we : 



— inaugurate an expanded program of international ocean 



exploration ; 

 — intensify our use of Food from the Sea in the War on Hunger ; 

 — promote optimal use of the Coastal Zone with stress on Fed- 

 eral, State, and regional cooperation; 

 — prepare for improvements to our harbor and port systems; 

 — institute new measures to insure safety of life and property 



— increase investments in manpower and research, including 



support of the Sea Grant College programs ; 

 — foster marine applications of new technological developments 

 such as spacecraft, deep ocean buoys, and automatic data 

 processing ; 

 — improve our capabilities to work in the deep oceans; 

 — expand Arctic and subpolar research ; 

 — extend reconnaissance mapping of the Continental Shelf. 

 There have been many recent reminders that our task has only begun. 

 The world population continues to grow while food supplies stretch 

 thinner. The U.S. has slipped from fifth to sixth place among fishing 

 nations. Oil slicks frequently wash ashore on our beaches. The need 

 for new recreational opportunities becomes increasingly critical as our 

 coastal cities expand and impose new demands on our limited sea- 

 shores. And attempts by some nations to unilaterally abrogate the 

 traditional freedoms of the seas have threatened long-standing prin- 

 ciples of international law. 



The Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act of 1966 

 estaJblished a clear mandate for this Nation to employ the sea, as we 

 do the land, to meet the growing needs of our expanding population. 

 I can report to you that with the full cooperation and support of all 

 agencies we shall use our marine resources to respond to the challenge 

 of the decades ahead. 



This program is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. It is proving 

 how the power of science, transformed through our various institutions 

 and the democratic process to a technology, may serve our Nation's 

 diverse interests. 



Sincerely, 



islUutffU^ 



The President, 

 The White House, 

 Washington., B.C. 



Hubert H. Humphrey 



VI 



