OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITT 93 



S. Department of the Interior 



(a) Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv- 

 ice.* — The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries is responsible for extensive 

 programs in support of all types of fishery interests, including particu- 

 larly biological aspects of oceanography. The Bm^eau maintains a 

 number of laboratories for the purpose of studying those characteristics 

 of the ocean which affect fish and fishing. These have been included 

 in the survey, Tables 3 and 4. Programs of the Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries cover the following topics: 



1. Plankton sampling. 



2. Behavior of marine animals. 



3. Artificial cultivation of young fish and shellfish. 



4. Distribution of marine populations. 



5. Biological surveys and inventories of the ocean. 



6. Taxonomy of marine species. 



7. Genetics of marine organisms. 



8. Pond fish culture, brackish water farming. 



9. Effects of industrial and domestic waste on estuaries. 



10. Study of disease and parasites and their effects in marine 

 ecology. 



11. Transplantation of organisms. 



12. The potential of artifically increasing nutrients. 



13. The utilization of new marine products. 



14. The improvement of fishing techniques and equipment. 



15. The economy and legal aspects of commercial fisheries 



(6) U.S. Geological Survey. — The U.S. Geological Survey is in- 

 terested in the possible presence and significance of minerals located 

 in bottom sediments extending out on the continental shelf. It is thus 

 particularly interested in the geological structure of offshore lands, 

 an inventory of subsmiace resources and in development of techniques 

 for determining the presence of subsm-face minerals. This agency 

 maintains only a limited program in oceanic research. 



(c) Bureau of Mines. — The Bm-eau of Mines has statutory respon- 

 sibihties concerned with the exploitation of mineral wealth of the 

 United States and would thus have cognizance over the assessment 

 of potential value and means of recovering and utilizing mineral re- 

 sources in and under the sea. This would include the extraction of 

 minerals from sea water, the underwater mining of nodules and the 

 extraction of coal or oil from subsurface fields. Although the Bureau 

 maintains independent laboratories, virtually none of its efforts is 

 devoted to oceanic research at the present. 



4. Department of Commerce 



(a) Coast and Geodetic Survey. *~The Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 operates a small but eflBicient fleet concerned with charting in the con- 

 tinental shelf areas. However, limits on its geographical areas of 

 jurisdiction were relaxed by Public Law 86-409, approved April 5, 

 1960. Historically, this agency was derived from the Survey of the 

 Coast, established by President Thomas Jefferson more than 150 

 years ago. It has particularly concentrated on soundings in the off- 

 shore areas, including .llaska, and has actively participated with the 

 Atomic Energy Commission in surveying oft"shore sites for the dis- 

 posal of low-level packaged, radioactive waste. The Coast and Geo- 

 detic Sm-vey has undertaken development of a number of systems of 



