159 



Table 4-3 Present Status of Domestic Marine Resource-Based Industries 



Type 



Examples 



Existing industries 



Mature, healthy, and growing Continental shelf oil and gas 



Chemical extraction from sea water 

 Mining of sand, gravel, sulfur 

 Shrimp and tuna fishing 



Initial stage of growth Desalination 



Aquaculturc — fresh water and estuarine 



Mature, but static or declining Most segments of fishing 



Future industries 



Near term promising (where near term is up Mining of placer minerals 



to 15 years) Oil and gas beyond the continental shelf 



Long range Subbottom mining (excluding sulfur) 



Deep ocean recovery of manganese nodules 

 Aquaculture — open ocean 



Power generation from waves, currents, tides, and thermal 

 differences 



I'.S. marine industries are heavily involved 

 in activities tlirotighout the world. Access to 

 foreign markets and raw materials to supple- 

 ment domestic sources is a critical require- 

 ment for many of the larger firms. It is 

 important in framing policies to encourage 

 private investment enterprise tliat govern- 

 ment agencies avoid unnecessarily restrictive 

 regulations that might inhibit capabilities to 

 operate successfully within a highly competi- 

 tive international environment. 



Capital Sources and Requirements 



Raising capital is not a different problem 

 for marine ventures than for terrestrial ven- 

 tures. The normal capital markets are avail- 

 able, and the criteria for sound investment 

 are applied. 



In general, capital has not been lacking to 

 finance industrial ocean projects. In fact, the 

 investment community has been greatly in- 

 trigued bj- ocean endeavors. The volume of 

 publicity and advertising in the popular 

 press and business journals, the creation of 



mutual funds specializing in ocean industries, 

 and the numerous symposia and publications 

 sponsored by brokerage houses are evidence 

 of this. 



The U.S. offshore petroleum industi-y has 

 invested about $13 billion to date, part of 

 which has been internally generated and part 

 raised by the sale of securities to the public. 

 Many of the Nation's largest industrial firms 

 outside the petroleum industry also have in- 

 vested heavily in ocean projects. Venture 

 capital sources have fostered numerous small 

 companies, often in the more glamorous fields 

 of advanced technology. Private financial 

 institutions, however, have hesitated to invest 

 in or extend credit to small fishing enter- 

 prises, which often have had to rely on 

 Government-insured mortgages on their ves- 

 sels, and in some cases, on direct loans. Yet 

 adequate amounts of private capital have 

 been available to the profitable shrimp and 

 tuna industries. The Department of Com- 

 merce's Economic Development Administra- 

 tion and the Small Business Administration 



