82 



7. The United States is rapidly losing its lead in deep submergence research capability to the 

 French, Japanese and Russians. The very limited deep submergence services available to 

 U.S. researchers results in exclusion of the majority of potential research users. 



8. There is no overlap or duplication in undersea research activities funded by NURP, Sea 

 Grant, NSF or the NAVY. NURP, by its nature, works with the other organizations in a 

 parmership to enhance undersea research. 



9. A great need exists to assess the envirorunental, fisheries, recreational and socioeconomic 

 impact of the presence, and ultimate removal, of the thousands of offshore oil and gas 

 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. States, industry and the federal government are 

 cooperating in programs to convert some of these platforms to artificial reefs. Generally 

 favored by recreational fishermen and divers, the artificial reef program is opposed by the 

 shrimp fishing industry, which uses bottom trawls. The dynamic process of rig removal 

 itself is though to have impacts on endangered species and local fishery populations. 



Research relating to the assessment of environmental and fishery consequences of 

 manipulation of offshore platforms as habitat requires attention. NURP could play a key 

 role in such an effort in the Gulf of Mexico, which has the largest concentration of such 

 platforms in the world. 



The undersea research community in the Gulf of Mexico includes numerous scientists 

 who would be able and willing to address such specific questions as: do platforms and 

 artificial structures provide new habitat which actually increases benthic and fishery 

 populations, or do the structures simply attract biota from natural reefs; do small artificial 

 reefs made of only one platform significandy enhance local fishery populations or does it 

 require that an artificial reef be constructed of many discarded platforms to provide 

 significant habitat enhancement 



10. I suggest that the committee could generate a favorable report on NURP authorization, 

 establish additional NURP centers in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Pacific coast, and 

 increase authorized annual funding limits by at least $10 million to support the new 

 centers and enhance the existing effort 



