Marine Science Affairs 



These programs reflect the best judgment that we can exercise today, 

 based on foreseeable technological developments and on estimates of 

 benefits and costs in a perspective of national priorities. While the course 

 for the next 18 months — until the end of FY 1969 — is reasonably clear, 

 our attention now turns to an appraisal of marine sciences over the longer 

 term, and to the broader perspective. We must now examine the more 

 fundamental question: "What portion of the Nation's energy and wealth 

 should be devoted to ocean endeavors, and how?" Precise quantitative 

 answers may elude us, and our best estimate today will be slightly altered 

 tomorrow. Nevertheless, the sea has served us and will continue to serve 

 us, and our task is to inquire about the role of the oceans in contributing to 

 the world of the future. 



Five premises underpin any such projections : 



First, science and technology that have been key ingredients of recent 

 marine enterprises will continue and even increase in importance. 



Second, the Federal Government — the primary sponsor of research and 

 exploration — will continue to provide national leadership and financial sup- 

 port where necessary. 



Third, exploitation of marine resources, as with resources on land, will 

 be undertaken by competitive private enterprise. 



Fourth, geographically localized problems in management of the marine 

 environment of inshore waters will require local solutions. 



Fifth, gains from the ocean will be increasingly sought by other nations 

 throughout the world. 



These premises suggest that continued progress to extract ever-increasing 

 benefits from the seas must continue to be generated by vigorous scientific 

 research and exploration, by creative marine technology, and by evolving 

 associated institutions, both public and private. 



Marine science and technology are recognized predominantly as "means" 

 rather than "ends." So indeed are the institutions that become the vehicles 

 for action. Analysis of the future in marine sciences must therefore be cast 

 in the context of even broader considerations — of fundamental national 

 goals. 



The need to enumerate such goals and appraise our progress becomes all 

 the more compelling in a field as complex and differentiated as marine 

 sciences. 



Rapid progress can be made only by a society whose segments agree 

 on major common purposes, and after they have reached agreement by a 

 process of consensus. 



To establish the future direction and pace of a truly national — and not 

 just Federal — marine science program, we must examine and re-examine the 



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