Foreword 



From tlie days of discovery and coloniza- 

 tion, America lias looked to the sea. In times 

 of stress the sea has been our ally, and in 

 times of peace, a source of our prosperitj'. 

 Sometimes hostile and sometimes generous in, 

 its moods, the ocean always has offered its 

 abundant resources in countless ways. But 

 only recently have we begun to perceive its 

 true jxitential. 



The driving force and urgency of our new 

 concern for the sea stem from the changing 

 character of the world itself — from mounting- 

 economic needs, from congested populations, 

 from our omu deteriorating shores. It is now 

 nearly 10 years since reports by the National 

 Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Navy 

 focused attention upon the vital import of 

 our imderdeveloped marine resources. The 

 intervening decade has been marked by a 

 mounting interest and activity. Further re- 

 ports, studies, and statements have poured 

 forth in profusion, representing the experi- 

 ence, the views, and the best judgment of the 

 outstanding experts of the country. Through- 

 out this period a voluminous legislative 

 record testifies also to a growing Congres- 

 sional concern, which culminated in June 

 1966 in the Marine Resources and Engineer- 

 ing Development Act, expressing a convic- 

 tion and defining a national purpose : 



• A conviction that the time had arrived for 

 this country to give .serious and systematic 

 attention to our marine environment and to 

 the potential resources of the oceans 



• A national determination to take the steps 

 necessary to stimulate marine explorati(m, 

 science, tecluiology, and financial in\'est- 

 ment on a \-astly augmented scale. 



The Act e.stablished two complementary 

 bodies: the National Council on Marine Re- 

 sources and Engineering Development and 

 the Commission on Marine Science, Engi- 

 neering and Resources. 



With the Vice President as Chairman, the 

 Council is comprised of the heads of the 

 major Federal departments and agencies with 

 marine missions. The Council was charged 

 with the planning and coordination of cur- 

 rent marine programs and with advising and 

 assisting the President. It continually surveys 

 the state of marine affairs and has shaped and 

 strengthened Federal marine programs. 



In contrast, the members of the Commis- 

 sion, appointed early in 1967 by the Presi- 

 dent, represent diverse interests and areas of 

 the country, and the Commission was left 

 wholly free of operating responsibility. 



First, the Commission was asked to ex- 

 amine the Nation's stake in the development, 

 utilization, and preservation of our marine 

 environment. 



Second, we were to review all current and 

 contemplated marine activities and to assess 

 their adequacy to achieve the national goals 

 set forth in the Act. 



Third, on the basis of its studies and assess- 

 ment, the Commission was to formulate a 

 comprehensive, long-term, national program 

 for marine affairs designed to meet present 

 and future national needs in the most effec- 

 ti^•e possible manner. 



And finally, we were requested to recom- 

 mend a plan of Government organization 

 best adapted to the supjjort of the program 

 and to indicate the expected costs. 



Consequently, the report which the Com- 

 mission now presents goes beyond the con- 

 fines of oceanography as a science to encom- 

 pass marine technology and the resources of 

 the seas. The difficulties of our task M-ere com- 

 pounded by the dramatic rapidity with which 

 changes and expansion are taking place 

 throughout all elements of the marine com- 

 munity. Since we set to work, deep submer- 

 sible capability has been extended beyond a 

 nautical mile in dej^th; man-in-the-sea proj- 



