39 



Mr. Weldon. Thank you, Dr. Alberts. 

 Dr. Lane? 



STATEMENT OF DR. NEAL LANE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

 SCIENCE FOUNDATION 



Dr. Lane. Thank you. 



Chairman Weldon, Chairman Rohrabacher, Chairman Saxton, 

 and members of the Committee, I very much appreciate the oppor- 

 tunity to testify on national oceanographic research capabilities. 



I'd like to give a brief overview of ocean science research at the 

 National Science Foundation and follow with two examples of spe- 

 cific types of projects we support, before I address some of the 

 broader national oceanographic policy issues. 



At NSF, ocean sciences research and education is largely sup- 

 ported through our Geosciences Directorate, which also supports 

 research in related fields of Earth Sciences £ind Atmospheric 

 Sciences. 



In 1995, the Ocean Sciences subactivity was funded at the level 

 of $193 million, which represents just over eight percent of the 

 NSF's total research budget. 



Among other things, these funds provided support for more than 

 3000 scientists and graduate students, 27 research vessels, and 

 over 3000 operating days at sea. 



An additional $29 million for ocean sciences research comes from 

 our Office of Polar Programs, which supports ocean science re- 

 search in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. 



So, in total, NSF provides support for these fields at a level of 

 well over ten percent of our entire research budget. 



Conducting state-of-the-art research on the oceans is a daunting 

 challenge, not only because of the sheer size and the physical com- 

 plexity of two-thirds of the earth's surface that comprise the 

 oceans, but because the research requires ocean-going platforms 

 equipped with scientific instruments that are capable of operating 

 in some of the most severe environmental conditions imaginable. 



The potential pay-offs for this research, both in terms of advanc- 

 ing scientific understanding and in potential economic benefits, are 

 enormous, but let me just give you two examples, please. 



Ocean fishermen and the coastal communities that are economi- 

 cally dependent on their success are subject to huge fluctuations in 

 commercial fishstocks. Some yield record catches, but these are 

 often followed by periods of virtual absence of certain species of 

 commercial fish. A common sense interpretation of these cycles 

 blames the scarcity of fish in the lean years on overfishing during 

 the boom part of the cycle. 



Sedimentary records of the ocean floor, however, provide data 

 going back hundreds, even thousands, of years that show boom or 

 bust cycles in fish populations. This strongly suggests that natural 

 environmental variability is an important factor in fish popu- 

 lations. This cyclic variability can vary from season to season, or 

 it may vary across decades or more. 



The reasons for the cyclic variability are complex, but are prob- 

 ably tied to the reproduction strategies of fish. Most fish produce 

 thousands or even millions of offspring per adult in each breeding 

 cycle. The vast majority of these offspring perish due to predation, 



