Marine Resources 



8S 



The hope that new scientific Icnowledge 

 and technical capability will open the way 

 for the United States and the nations of the 

 world to gain new wealth from the sea has 

 fired much of the heightened interest in 

 marine affairs. The Commission's enabling 

 statute specifies one of its major tasks as the 

 review of "known and contemplated needs 

 for natural resources from the marine en- 

 vironment in order to maintain this Nation's 

 expanding economy." The objectives of the 

 statute include "the accelerated development 

 of the resources of the marine environment" 

 and "the encouragement of private invest- 

 ment enterprise in exploration, technological 

 development, marine commerce and the ec- 

 onomic utilization" of the sea's resources. 



The Commission has approached its assess- 

 ment of marine resources with two overrid- 

 ing concerns: (1) that the United States not 

 he confronted with a critical shortage of any 

 raw material and (2) that both marine and 

 nonmarine resources be developed through 

 a policy which will advance economic effi- 

 ciency. Further, the Commission recognizes 

 that the I^.S. interest in marine resource de- 

 velopment must be viewed in terms of world 

 needs and capabilities. The sea is a global 

 source of goods and services for all mankind. 



Not all resource needs have the same ur- 

 gency. The Nation and the world face a few 

 truly critical problems, a number of signifi- 

 cant opportunities to advance both national 

 and international interests, and other situa- 

 tions which can currently be accepted as rel- 

 atively satisfactory. 



It is impossible to deal with development 

 and management issues in terms of marine 

 resources as a whole, although general policy 

 considerations must be accommodated. The 

 (\)nunission, therefore, has considered sep- 

 arately the economic and legal problems as- 

 sociated with such areas as fisheries, oil, gas, 

 and hard minerals and has made numerous 



The hope that new knowledge and 

 technology nwy lead to inereased 

 wealth from the tea hn.H heightened 

 global interest in. marine affairs. 

 Offshore oil production is second only 

 to fish as a source of marine resource 



recommendations (in Parts II and III of this 

 chapter) for change in national and inter- 

 national policies and law. 



In our society, the economic uses of the sea 

 are primarily within the province of the pri- 

 vate sector. The Commission recognizes the 

 need for Government to strengthen indus- 

 try's role in expanding the scope and scale 

 of marine operations. 



The character of the Government-industry 

 relationship will have an important bearing 

 on the Nation's effective use of the sea. The 

 Commission's views on Government and in- 

 dustry roles and the steps to encourage pri- 

 vate investment in marine enterprises are 

 outlined at the end of this chapter. 



I. National Resource Policy 



There is no .single national policy uni- 

 formly applicaljle to all resources, just as 

 there is no single defense, economic, or for- 

 eign policy. Rather, there is only a body of 

 exiJerience and general objectives which 

 guide decisions on specific issues at specific 

 times. Policy decisions on natural resources 

 require evaluation of long-term estimates of 

 supply and demand, opportunities to develop 

 substitutes, access to foreign sources, and the 

 adequacy of data for long-term planning and 

 resource management. 



The rate at which the world's natural re- 

 sources are being used poses impressive chal- 

 lenges to human ingenuity to find and de- 

 velop new sources. Accelerating resource use 

 emphasizes the dire need to halt the pro- 

 fligate waste of many resources. Consuni])- 

 tion of metals in the next 35 years is expected 

 to exceed that of the last 2,000 years. Energy 

 use in the next 20 years is estimated at three 

 times that of the last 100 years. Even more 

 sobering, world food production must in- 

 crease by 50 per cent over the next 20 years 

 to keep pace with growing poi)ulations; food 



