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Coast Guard, the National Science Foundation (NSF) , the National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) , and the National 

 Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have all, over the 

 years, worked together with each other, and with the nation's 

 academic oceanographic institutions, and with businesses working 

 in, around and with the oceans. The federal agencies have played 

 an important role in creating a national ocean community, both by 

 financial support for the creation of knowledge and technology 

 needed by government agencies to carry out their missions, but 

 useful for other purposes, and by being important agents in 

 bringing members and potential members of the ocean community 

 together. 



Perhaps the weakest part today is the link between current and 

 potential ocean related businesses, and the already relatively 

 well coordinated community of ocean related federal agencies and 

 academic institutions. While the Sea Grant program has gone a 

 long way to linking the academic institutions and the federal 

 agencies to states and localities, those links, too, could 

 benefit by further strengthening. 



Linking ocean related businesses more strongly with the existing 

 ocean community (and many links already exist) is made more 

 difficult by the fact that, while many aspects of ocean business 

 involve large firms with a capability to generate their own 

 knowledge (eg oil and gas, parts of shipping) , and to use it, many 

 ocean related businesses, such as both commercial and sport 

 fishing, boating and recreation, tourism, near shore 

 construction, and beach activities, are made up of a large number 

 of small and medium size businesses. Neither these businesses, or 

 the many coastal communities with common problems with beach 

 erosion, coastal construction, sewage and waste disposal, inshore 

 and near shore pollution and other environmental problems, etc. 

 have the individual capacity to do the research and development 

 required to provide the fundamental knowledge and technology that 

 they need and from which they would benefit. The scale of the 

 required R&D is too large for them. Indeed, it is sometimes 

 difficult for them to find the capacity to learn what knowledge 

 and technology is available, and to use it. 



At the same time, the federal agencies, for the reasons given 

 above, are customers for such knowledge and technology, and have 

 the capability and responsibility for its generation. The states 

 and Federal agencies, and academic institutions and private 

 businesses, can all benefit from the development of fundamental 

 knowledge and technology, and from what is learned when 

 applications are made. We have an opportunity to develop further 

 a mutually supporting network of institutions at various levels 

 and in several sectors. 



The pattern of needs and responsibilities suggests further 

 elaboration of a network of cooperating institutions linking the 



