NOAA's plan was recently criticized in reports by the National 

 Research Council and the General Accounting Office, I might add 

 of which both examinations were invited by Dr. Baker. I have abso- 

 lute confidence that he is going to use those reports to reach goals 

 of efficiency and effectiveness, and so we look forward today to 

 hearing precisely how that is going to happen. 



We also want to hear about the next generation aircraft recon- 

 naissance system that is going to be used for hurricane and severe 

 storm forecasting. This program is every important since the high- 

 altitude capability does not presently exist and more accurate fore- 

 casting reduces loss of life and property damage, and obviously cost 

 to the Government. 



The committee would emphasize that NCAA needs to continue 

 focusing on coastal and ocean programs within the National Ocean 

 Service and oceanic and atmospheric research efforts. With the re- 

 authorization of the Coastal Zone Management Act coming before 

 us, it is vitally important that there be adequate funding of NOS 

 programs. Furthermore, it is essential that NOAA continue to 

 maintain a strong role in coastal monitoring and research. And fi- 

 nally, the coastal ocean program is important because of its abilitv 

 to cut across line offices and to address the critical ocean researcn 

 needs. 



I might just comment quickly on marine aquaculture which we 

 will focus on somewhat this morning. We have called previously on 

 NOAA to maintain its commitment to the aquaculture industry, 

 and we believe very much that strong programs within NOAA for 

 effective marine aquaculture management, research, and edu- 

 cation, are now needed more than ever before. With fisheries and 

 ports, Such as Gloucester and New Bedford in Massachusetts, the 

 Northwest Pacific, and here up and down the east coast, under 

 enormous stress, the whole concept of aquaculture looms with far 

 greater urgency, and not just possibilities. The demand for fish 

 product is going up, the capacity of the ocean to produce it is going 

 down. And so we are in a clash with these trend lines and have 

 a fundamental responsibility to future generations to try to deal 

 better with these resources. 



I would point out also that there are obviously constraints on 

 aquaculture. Located near coastal waters or in coastal waters, 

 aquaculture operations by definition have to operate in an ex- 

 tremely complex regime of coastal regulations. These regulations 

 along with public concerns, environmental concerns about 

 wastewater, water quality, concerns about genetic contamination of 

 naturally occurring species, and conflicts with other coastal users 

 loom as large issues. It is very clear from the Asian experience and 

 from other people's efforts in this area that there is a great deal 

 left for us to do to begin to take advantage of what marine aqua- 

 culture has to offer. 



So, my final comment is that I think this committee provides one 

 with a unique opportunity to consider what we are doing here in 

 Washington, what we are doing to ourselves now versus what we 

 ought to be doing for ourselves for the future. I am increasingly 

 concerned that we are on a kind of automatic pilot in Washington 

 that is ignoring the realities of what is happening around us. We 

 are very Dusy cutting off our nose to spite our face in the interests 



