114 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



4. The proposed Fiscal 1961 budget of $55 million, representing 

 still further growth in oceanic research, is 6 percent of the $950 million 

 proposed to be devoted to nonmilitary research in outer space. 



5. The National Science Foundation has initiated a small program 

 in oceanography and has funded a new research ship. In general, 

 however, relatively limited increases in support for oceanographic 

 research have developed from the civilian component of Federal 

 sources, or from non-Federal sources. 



6. Commercial payoff of research in the sea is apparently considered 

 so marginal by industrial interests that, to date, virtually no risk 

 capital has been attracted. Nevertheless, the number of industrial 

 engineering ventures in the sea is increasing. As this undersea activity 

 expands further, industry will have increasing need for basic informa- 

 tion about the sea. 



7. Nonprofit, independent organizations originally endowed for re- 

 search in oceanography now depend largely on Government contracts 

 rather than interest from their investments as a source of operating 

 capital. Virtually no new endowments have been developed in the 

 last 30 years. liecommendations by the 1949-51 NAS Committee 

 on Oceanography for increased private support did not produce the 

 response that a similar study produced in 1927-29. 



F. STATUS OF A NATIONAL PROGRAM 



1. As in the case of atomic energy and outer space, research in the 

 oceans is dominated by Federal sponsorship. 



2. At present, some 19 different Government departments have 

 responsibilities, and in some measure, support programs in oceanog- 

 raphy. By far the greatest support, however, is derived from the 

 Office of Naval Research. Other major sponsors include: Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Atomic Energy 

 Commission, and the National Science Foundation. 



3. Some overlap occurs between responsibilities of different agencies 

 as, for example, in the sponsorship of basic research between the 

 National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research; for 

 surveys, between the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office and the Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey; for control of radioactive waste, between the 

 Atomic Energy Commission and the Public Health Service. 



4. Interdepartmental coordination has been effected informally 

 since 1956 through the Coordinating Committee on Oceanography 

 organized by the Office of Naval Research, and is now effected through 

 the Interagency Committee on Oceanography of the Federal Council 

 for Science and Technology, with Assistant Secretary of the Navy 

 Wakelin serving as chairman. However, no formal charter or statu- 

 tory basis exists for this coordinating function. The short time of 

 operation of the ICO precludes evaluation of its effectiveness. 



5. Although several clear statements of purpose and long-range 

 programs in oceanography have been proposed, none has been adopted 

 as national policy. 



6. Inasmuch as oceanography has one major sponsor, the Federal 

 Government, a national program can be more readily constructed, 

 and more fluently coordinated, than' if the sponsorship were more 

 diversified. 



