165 



Maybe we've got to get a couple of members of Congress to go 

 down in ALVTN or in one of the undersea research vessels. And 

 some might argue that we should leave them there. But 



[Laughter.] 



Mr. Weldon. I would not go that far. 



[Laughter.] 



Mr. Weldon. But I think we've got to do more to promote in a 

 very visible way what you're all doing and perhaps take for grant- 

 ed. But we deal in perceptions here and the perception has not 

 been raised yet on the issue of ocean research perhaps to the level 

 it should be. 



I'm taking time, so I'll now defer to my good friend and colleague, 

 Mr. Bateman. 



Mr. Bateman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and a very special 

 thanks to the panel. You've done, I think, a very, very constructive 

 job in helping us focus on something that is of vital national con- 

 cern and something that the Congress needs to truly do a better 

 job of focusing on. 



Dr. BEiker, I want to paraphrase, if I may, Daniel Webster. It's 

 a small program, but there are those who love it. I'm referring to 

 the oyster disease research program, which wasn't included for 

 funding in the FY '96 budget. 



It is a program of very, very significant importance to not only 

 the problem of the world food supply, bearing in mind that oyster 

 production in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries has declined 

 by 200, 300 percent, and seems to still be going down. 



There was and is an ongoing oyster disease research program 

 that focuses on dermo and MSX and the other diseases to which 

 the oysters have been preyed upon. 



I would hope that the FY '97 budget would recognize the impor- 

 tance of this program and that there would be a plan of continued 

 support for oyster disease research through the Sea Grant Program 

 or any other programs. 



It is just too important, not just in terms of long-range food sup- 

 ply, but certainly in terms of the economies of the people who have 

 har\'ested those oysters, who have packed and processed and mar- 

 keted them. 



It really represents severe economic distress to these people. The 

 oyster disease research needs to be continued and is showing prom- 

 ise. 



So I hope that NOAA will focus upon that and find the capability 

 to continue planned funding for it in FY '97. 



I appreciate the fact that we have a common enemy of all good 

 programs and that's the Office of Management and Budget. But 

 within your constraints, I hope you will see fit to support it. 



Another thing I'd like to comment on is back in the late '80s, 

 there was a concern in the old Merchant Marine and Fisheries 

 Committee, of which I was a member, about the NOAA research 

 fleet and the need to modernize and upgrade it. And in 1990, we 

 passed a NOAA fleet modernization act, after a report from NOAA. 



We don't seem to have gotten very far on that. One of the things 

 that we mandated was a NOAA study and program for the mod- 

 ernization of the NOAA fleet. 



