Appendix 



35 



the Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations. 

 Fellowships are available through the Uni- 

 \ersity and the Pacific Oceanic Fishery In- 

 vestigations. 



OCEANOGRAPHIC WORK OF THE 



FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 



Between the two world wars the ocean- 

 ographic activities of the Federal Govern- 

 ment were concentrated on work of im- 

 mediate importance to navigation, princi- 

 pally surveying and charting of the sea 

 bottom and measurements of tides and cur- 

 rents in inshore waters. The work was con- 

 ducted by three agencies: the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey of the Department of 

 Commerce, the Hydrographic Office of the 

 Navy, and the United States Coast Guard. 

 At first detailed bottom surveys were made 

 only in waters less than 100 fathoms deep 

 and in near-shore areas. After the devel- 

 opment of echo sounding, it became pos- 

 sible to extend surveys out into waters more 

 than 1,000 fathoms deep 200 miles or more 

 from shore. Tide and current measurements 

 were also made at localities important for 

 navigation and were used in the prepara- 

 tion of daily predictions. Observations of 

 temperature and salinity in the northwest- 

 ern North Atlantic for use in computing the 

 currents to predict the probable paths of 

 icebergs were made by the United States 

 Coast Guard as part of its work in conduct- 

 ing the International Ice Patrol. 



Since World War 11 the oceanographic 

 activities of the Federal Government have 

 greatly increased both in scope and magni- 

 tude. Charting of ocean depths using re- 

 cording echo sounders and modem elec- 

 tronic aids to navigation has continued, 

 and several new types of work have been 

 undertaken. The Navy has taken the lead 

 in these new developments, in part through 

 the Hydrographic Office and the various 

 Navy laboratories, and in part through sup- 

 port of research in universities, oceano- 

 graphic institutions, and other civilian or- 

 ganizations by the Office of Naval Research 

 and the Bureau of Ships. 



Within the Hydrographic Office, the new 

 Division of Oceanography has assumed a 



major share of the responsibility for de- 

 scriptive oceanographic work in areas not 

 being surveyed by other agencies, for prep- 

 aration of charts showing conditions in 

 the ocean, and for coordinating special 

 research at sea. Because of limitations of 

 personnel, ships, and funds, its efforts to 

 date have been confined chiefly to the 

 North Atlantic, but it has sponsored work 

 elsewhere, notably in the Arctic, Antarctic 

 and Mediterranean. It is a depository for 

 oceanographic information of all kinds from 

 American naval and merchant vessels, in- 

 cluding bathythermograph records, echo 

 soundings in deep water, current and sur- 

 face temperature observations, and other 

 records such as the occurrence of discolored 

 water. 



Since jurisdiction over local sea fisheries 

 usually lies with the state governments, 

 the maritime states support research pro- 

 grams. These are variously conducted by 

 state conservation agencies, by state uni- 

 versities, and by privately endowed research 

 institutions. The Federal government con- 

 ducts research on fisheries of territorial 

 waters, or those whose range is interstate 

 or international. It generally initiates a re- 

 search program only when so directed by 

 Congress. International commissions are 

 established for study and regulation of the 

 fisheries for Pacific halibut, Pacific tunas, 

 and the fisheries of the northwest Atlantic. 



The Fish and Wildlife Service of the 

 Department of the Interior has expanded 

 its oceanographic work. In Honolulu it has 

 recently built a large laboratory on the 

 campus of the University of Hawaii, where 

 a staff of over 90 people is employed to 

 assay the potentialities of the pelagic fish- 

 eries of the central north Pacific and to 

 study the ecology of the fishery stock in 

 that area. At Stanford University and at 

 Point Loma, California, are laboratories 

 where it conducts its part of the coopera- 

 tive sardine research program, in which 

 the California Division of Fish and Game, 

 the California Academy of Science, the 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the 

 Fishery Board of Canada, and others par- 

 ticipate. The Fish and Wildlife Service 



