The Gulf of Mexico, as you know, is subject to increasing envi- 

 ronmental pressure. To address the need to manage the resources 

 of the Gulf of Mexico, there are a considerable number of research 

 requirements and needs. These include the study of ecological proc- 

 esses relating to habitat, use and degradation, nutrient enrichment, 

 freshwater input, dynamics of living, marine resources, toxic mate- 

 rials, coastal erosion, hydrodynamics, catastrophic events, global 

 change, nuisance species, human health, and just a whole host of 

 others. We have in the Gulf of Mexico identified these as the major 

 issues. 



There are a number of existing Federal research programs which 

 are addressing components of these research needs. Many of these 

 programs have received help and logistic support from NURP, and 

 many of them would benefit from logistic support from NURP. 

 Among these programs, the U.S. Minerals Management Service 

 Environmental Studies Program is pursuing some very essential re- 

 search on the physical oceanography of the northern Gulf of 

 Mexico. The NOAA Coastal Ocean Program is involved in a study 

 of the effects of nutrient input from the Atchafalaya and Mississip- 

 pi Rivers and the influence of that input on productivity and mor- 

 tality and the establishment of hypoxic zones offshore of Mississip- 

 pi, Louisiana, and Texas. 



The National Marine Sanctuaries Program has recently estab- 

 lished the first marine sanctuary within the Gulf of Mexico proper 

 and administers at the Flower Garden Banks a research and moni- 

 toring program who foster wise use of that resource. The EPA Gulf 

 of Mexico Program is involved in identifying research needs in pur- 

 suit of wise management of marine resources in the Gulf and is 

 starting to solicit proposals for research to approach these needs. 



The NOAA/EPA Regional Marine Research Program is engaged 

 in producing a plan which would identify and describe essential re- 

 search necessary for good water quality and healthy marine ecosys- 

 tem in the Gulf of Mexico. And then, finally, the four Sea Grant 

 Programs in the Gulf of Mexico have a 20-year record of marine 

 education, research, and extension in pursuit of wise use of our 

 marine resources. 



Environmental research needs in the Gulf are so massive that 

 only through the collective and cooperative efforts of these and 

 other Federal and state programs can we ever hope to generate the 

 information we need to wisely manage the Gulf of Mexico marine 

 resources and marine ecosystem. The highest priority this commit- 

 tee can consider, I suggest, is enhancing Federal support for these 

 programs, bringing the programs up to the authorized levels — 

 levels authorized by Congress — and generally support these re- 

 search programs across the board. 



The NOAA Office of Oceanic Research Programs coordinates and 

 provides funding and support for the NOAA Extramural Research 

 Programs. This includes Sea Grant, the Regional Marine Research 

 Program, and NURP. These programs are national programs, but 

 they are exercised regionally through peer review and competitive 

 grants and so on. NURP, though, as I understand it, not designed 

 to provide specifically research support but to provide logistic sup- 

 port for research programs, does have a significant role to play in 

 this process. There is no NURP Center in the Gulf of Mexico at the 



