40 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



The desirability of expansion in the use of sea resources to help 

 satisfy human needs for food is self-evident and in a contemporary 

 era, wherein science and technology have been effectively utilized to 

 solve similar problems, it is natural to look to research in marine 

 biology, in oceanography, and in exploratory fishing. 



Information is presently lacking on the abundance and availability 

 of fishery stocks, rhythmic seasonal changes, and sporadic fluctua- 

 tions. With such information, fishing could be less hunting and 

 more cultivation. We know now that large fertile areas exist in the 

 sea in the North and South Pacific, in the North and South Atlantic 

 and in the southern oceans. Productivity of the Indian Ocean, how- 

 ever, is said to be less certain, and this is imfortunate considering the 

 needs by nations on its borders. ^° 



The South Atlantic, on the other hand, has very large fertile areas 

 so that countries bordering this area that currently suffer protein 

 deficiency might well be immediate beneficiaries of the stimulation 

 of marine fisheries and fishery research. 



For each stock, the following needs .study: the geographic distribution through- 

 out the year; the abundance; the growth rate; the migratory habits; the spawning 

 liabits, spawning season, and fecundity; the relation between fishing rates and 

 productivity; the mechanism by which fluctuations in the environment affect 

 natural mortality; features of the environment which affect distribution.^' 



The interrelations among species of fish are vastly complex and 

 tangled; one lives upon the other. Tlie abundance of the stock is 

 greatly influenced by the abundance of its prey, its competitors, and 

 its predators. Man is one of the predators and fishing harvests can 

 be depleted in the sea by overfishing, as can any other natural resource, 

 for want of efficient management and conservation. 



Biological research concerned with utilization of the sea resources 

 involves study of the environment and the manner in which chemical, 

 physical, and biological characteristics of sea water influence its 

 fertility. The sea is in constant motion both horizontally and verti- 

 cally and these influences are geographically much more far-reach- 

 ing and much more subject to the dynamics of the environment 

 than is the case with the agricultiu'al uses of land. There, of course, 

 the farmer deals with the vagaries of weather, but at least he is aware 

 of this influence varying as a fimction only of time. In the sea, the 

 resource and environment are both in motion. Fish spawn in one 

 place and mature in another, and during a life cycle may migrate 

 great distances. 



Tliis environment is an ecological unit which, as a part of the sea, 

 has peculiar properties that satisfy the physiological requirements of 

 a population or a niunber of species which live together there. Be- 

 cause of the vastness as well as the lack of control over the deep ocean, 

 systematic ctfltivation of marine life in a controlled environment has 

 been most seriously considered only in shallow bays or estuaries. At 

 present, they are probably the only parts of the sea which can be 

 farmed. The fertility of brackish inshore water is such that when 

 properly manipulated, "aquiculture" as such teclinology is called, 

 should be profitable, as for example, in the cultivation of oysters. 



"> The particular potential for research offered by studies of biological resources of the sea has had the 

 benefit of an unusual study. Under sponsorship of the Conservation Foundation, an independent organ- 

 ization established to promote greater knowledge about the Earth's resources, Lionel A. Walford has 

 undertalten a comprehensive and incisive examination of the problem. His impressions and recommenda- 

 tions are set forth in a stimulating and informative book on "Living Resources of the Sea," published 

 by the Ronald Press Co., N'ew York. 19.58. 



" "T.,iving Resources of the Sea," op. cit., p. 48 (with permission of Ronald Press). 



