National Capability in the Sea 



SI 



The Nation's mariiie capability niiist be 

 built, upon an expandinp; base of knowledge 

 and practical skills. Tnclerstandin^ the sea 

 is till' task of marine science. Improvement 

 of operational skills, equipment, and meth- 

 ods is tlie responsibility of marine technol- 



<>fi".V- 



There are needs for scientific and engi- 

 noering knowledge common to nearly all 

 marine programs, although each marine ac- 

 tivity lias additional specialized require- 

 ments. The Nation nnist have very broad 

 capability to satisfy all these needs, including 

 adequate facilities, the organization and 

 know-how to accomplish specialized tasks, 

 an assured supply of highly skilled and edu- 

 cated manpower, and close integration of 

 the Nation's scientific and technological 

 resources. 



Arrangements to support marine science 

 are well established on a strong base of com- 

 petence in tlie universities and in Govern- 

 ment. Marine science could be improved, 

 however, by greater continuity in funding 

 and by provision for concerted attacks on 

 big problems. In contrast to its fostering of 

 marine science, the Federal Government has 

 not yet assumed a mission to support the 

 advance of civil marine technology. There 

 are no centers for technology development 

 comparable to the major institutions devoted 

 to marine science. 



Sufficient knowledge and experience do not 

 now exist to permit hard decisions on alter- 

 native courses of action for developing the 

 resour<-es of the sea. For example, before 

 major capital investments are made in min- 

 ing at continental shelf depths or in em- 

 placing great numliers of data-gathering and 

 rei)orting buoys for environmental monitor- 

 ing and prediction, more basic scientific in- 

 formation and technologA' will l)e needed. 



The Connnission concludes that a national 

 program to build capability in marine sci- 



.\ltlioii(/li till- Xution has e-rccllent 

 fariliticx likr thr Tl'oorf.t IJolr 

 Orinnoijniphic Institution for the 

 mipimrt of marine xricncc. thrre arc 

 no romparattlc <rntrrs for marine 

 teehnology development. 



ence and technology should emphasize ac- 

 tivities basic to a very wide spectrum of po- 

 tential applications. The level of national in- 

 vestment in such a capability nnist be suffi- 

 cient to maintain tlie leading position which 

 the United States now enjoys in many ixspects 

 of marine science and technology, to advance 

 in those fields in which it lags, and to open 

 new fields of endeavor. No one can say pre- 

 cisely how much expenditure this will in- 

 \olve. But it is clear that the present level is 

 Ijelow that which is appropriate to a newly 

 developing field of such vast import to the 

 future of our Nation. 



A number of factors dictate assumption by 

 the Federal Government of a major role in 

 advancing the national capability : 



• Basic science and graduate education, the 

 foundations of an expanded etfort, long 

 have been acknowledged as fields of Fed- 

 eral interest and responsibility. 



• Fundamental technology, like basic sci- 

 ence, requires Government support; ac- 

 quisition of the totality of required engi- 

 neering information and know-how from 

 which a specific industrial application may 

 be derived imposes too great a burden to 

 be assumed by any single firm or even any 

 single industry. Furthermore, much basic 

 teclinological develojiment is nonproprie- 

 tary in nature. 



• Facilities for development and testing of- 

 ten are so costly that the capital resources 

 of even the largest firms would be stretched, 

 and the smaller ones eliminated from com- 

 petition. 



• Some elements of marine industry are 

 proi>erly classed as small business and have 

 neither the organization nor resources to 

 conduct research and development on a 

 large scale: yet the total contribution of 

 such small firms to the economy is sub- 

 stantial. 



