es 



most with programs of high quality. These 

 laboratories form a valuable component of 

 the national capability in marine science. 



A new and potentially very important 

 program in support of marine science and 

 technology is that sponsored under the Na- 

 tional Sea Grant College and Program Act 

 of 1966 and currently administered by the 

 National Science Foundation. The Sea Grant 

 Program provides continuing support for 

 broad-based multidisciplinary programs in 

 training and research in a variety of areas 

 not covered by the Navy or other NSF pro- 

 grams. Sea Grant can provide support for 

 training, from the technician to the post- 

 doctoral level, in all areas related to marine 

 activities including the social sciences. It 

 provides for information transfer programs 

 of the kind pioneered a half century ago by 

 the land grant college program of coopera- 

 tive extension work, and it provides support 

 for research on problems of resource devel- 

 opment and other areas of applied research. 



Although the general situation of marine 

 science is good, there is ample room for im- 

 provement. Many researchers, particularly 

 at smaller institutions, lack adequate facili- 

 ties. Some ships of the U.S. oceanographic 

 research fleet are or soon will be obsolete. Ex- 

 celleTit cooperation between academic institu- 

 tions and Government laboratories in some 

 places is offset by poor cooperation in others. 

 Cooperation between marine scientists and 

 marine engineers is completely inadequate. 



In recent years, the marine science activ- 

 ities of the National Science Foundation and 

 the Office of Naval Research, the two major 

 funding agencies in this field, have not con- 

 tinued to grow as rapidly as they should. 

 Since 1968, the annual rate of growth in sup- 

 port for academic marine science from these 

 two agencies decreased from 7.3 per cent 

 (1063-1966) to 2.2 per cent (1966-1968) — 

 a growth rate insufficient to meet even the 



Trends in Funding for National Science 

 Foundation and Office of Naval Research 



increasing costs of doing research and com- 

 pletely inadequate to the needs and oppor- 

 tunities of this priority field of scientific 

 interest. 



The Commission concludes that it is essen- 

 tial to regain the high level of interest and 

 momentum that basic marine science attained 

 during the past decade. 



Centers for Marine Science: University- 

 National Laboratories 



The Commission finds that the U.S. posi- 

 tion of world leadership in marine science 

 depends mainly on the work of a small num- 

 ber of major oceanographic institutions. 

 These few large, well-staffed, and relatively 

 well-financed centers of oceanographic re- 

 search have had a profound influence on sci- 

 entists and programs at other institutions 

 and have established criteria of excellence for 

 the efforts of others. Such institutions as 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods 

 Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Lamont 

 Geological Observatory represent a major na- 

 tional investment around which the Nation's 

 marine science program must be built. 



The need for such major centers is the re- 

 sult of the verv nature of the seas. One of 



