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and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has alreacJy provided this to some extent .in the 

 past, but considers that there will be a need for support of a wider range of 

 responsibilities over the next 10 years. 



( d ) The development of re-^e^rr-h into the mineral resoxirces of the sea floor 

 and the cxtrgctir'n of dissolved chemicals from sea water hr.s hitherto received 

 little attention by IOC. It is appreciated that co-operative investigations of 

 these mineral resources is rendered difficult by various legal problems. However, 

 IOC might consider whether it can help coiontries in surveying the continental 

 shelves off their coasts by assisting in the training of marine g3o?hysicicts ond 

 geologists from those countries ai-.d by ari^anging for the secondment of suitable 

 experts to developing nations under technical assistance and development projects. 

 These activities should be Integi^ated with similar activities already undertaken 

 by Unesco, and financed from UNDP sources. The Secretariat should contain suf- 

 ficient expertise in the marine geological and geoph.ycical fields for IOC to play 

 a worth v;hile advisory role in the development of these sciences. 



(e) the United Kingdom welcomes the inci'c'aslng ccncem of the IOC with the 

 legal espects of sciantific researc h at soa and it hopes that the Commission will 

 find ways of alleviating those pi-oLlems which are at present hindering marine re- 

 search. Tlie United Kingdom would like to see priority given to the question of 

 the legal statvis of ocean data stations as it feels th^-'.t the development of moored 

 Instrument arrays, which is vital to the immediate progress of physical occano- 

 graphlc research, cannot proceed at a satisfactory speed unless the present rate 

 of loss due to interference is reduced. The officer in the Secretariat respon- 

 sible for IGOSS (see paragraph7(b) below) might look after this question in col- 

 laboration with Iftiesco's legal advisers. However, the United Kingdom does not 

 consider that IOC is the proper body to draw up conventions concerning the law of 

 the sea: this is held to be 'Aie responsibility of the United Nations. 



7 . Activit i es In whi c h t'le IOC should act in Jiaison or partr.'=!rshlp with other 

 agencies . 



(a) There is an urgent need for international action with regard to the 

 development and proper management of the living resov rn es of the Ocean . In the 

 view of the United Kingdom such action is the responsibility of the various in- 

 ternational fichary commissions and of tho Food end Agriculture Organization of 

 the United Nations (FAO). It must be borne in mind that in the development of a 

 fishery from scratch there is no substitute for exploratory fishing all the year 

 round by vessels equipped with up-to-date fishing detecting devices. The con- 

 tinuous acsessmont of the state of the stocks as the fichery develops subsequently 

 requires adequate catch and age statistics from as an early a time as is possible 

 and a knowledge of the life history of the stocks. The United Kingdom considers 

 that it is the responsibility of FAO to see that developing nations are equipped 

 to work along these lines. 



But there is no doubt that the development and management of the fish stocks 

 can be improved if certain oceanographic information is available: IOC should 

 take steps to see that oceanography develops in the various parts of the world 

 so that this information can be provided v/hen required. Likewise co-operative 

 oceanographic surveys can provide useful information from the fisheries point of 

 view if properly plarjied and executed. There la also much to be gained by ensur- 

 ing that there is adequate consultation between technical assistance missions in 

 the marine science field sent by FAO, on the one hand, and Unesco, on the other. 



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