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national marine science program. These goals include the development of marine 

 resources, expansion of knowledge of the marine environment, encouragement 

 of private investment in marine enterprise, advancement of education in marine 

 sciences, .lud cooperation with other nations when such cooperation is in the 

 national interest. It is the Commission's responsibility to recommend a national 

 oceanographic program adequate to achieve these goals. 



Under Public Law 89-454, the Commission is specifically charged with : 



(1) examining the nation's stake in the development, utilization and pres- 

 ervation of our marine environment ; 



(2) reviewing all current activities in the broad domain of marine science, 

 as well as those contemplated for the future, and assessing their adequacy 

 in meeting the specified goals set forth above ; 



(3) on the basis of these investigations, formulating a comprehensive, 

 long-term, national program for the marine sciences designed to meet present 

 and future national needs in the most effective possible manner ; and 



(4) recommending a plan of governmental organization best adapted to 

 the support of the program. 



The Council and the Commission are complementary bodies, although in cer- 

 tain areas their interests inescapably overlap. The members of the Council 

 represent at the highest level the major Federal departments and agencies con- 

 cerned with marine affairs. The Council is directly concerned with current mat- 

 ters. It bears the responsibility of coordinating marine programs and of advising 

 and assisting the President on a contintious basis. However, since it is also 

 charged with the shaping and strengthening of Federal programs for the on- 

 coming budgetary years, it must also initiate new activities and engage in ex- 

 tensive surveys and forward-looking studies. 



By contrast, the Commission is wholly free of operating responsibilities. Our 

 members represent diverse interests and areas of the country. Three are drawn 

 from the Federal Government, one is Commissioner of Fisheries in the State of 

 North Carolina, and the remainder have associations with industry, with aca- 

 demic institutions and the professions, and with organizations engaged in marine 

 science and technology. We are aided in our task by four Members of Congress, 

 who serve as our advisers : from the House of Representatives the Honorable 

 Alton A. Lennon and the Honorable Charles A. Mosher ; from the Senate, the 

 Honorable Warren G. Magnuson and the Honorable Norris Cotton. We are for- 

 tunate in the support of a small but excellent staff, drawn as was the Commis- 

 sion from diverse fields and backgrounds. And to insure that we do not per- 

 petuate ourselves, the enabling Act prescribes that we shall cease to exist thirty 

 days after the submission of our report. 



In return for freedom from day by day involvement, we recognize that the 

 Congress and the President await from the Commission a wholly detached 

 assessment of the national effort in marine affairs, viewed from the standpoints 

 of science, technology, economics, security, and the quality of our national life. 

 Upon this basic evaluation of needs and resources, the Commission must endeavor 

 to formulate a national plan for the future which will embody both vision and 

 realism. 



Clearly the task is one of enormous hardwork and complexity. Because it will 

 be impossible for each individual member of the Commission to become familiar 

 with every aspect of such a task, we have resolved ourselves into panels, each 

 charged with a mastery in depth of some particular area. The rationale for any 

 such breaking up into task forces is obviously arbitrary, and we have chosen 

 to organize our inquiry under the seven following headings : 



1. The level and quality of scientific effort— an examination of research, 

 physical and biological, on the marine environment. 



2. The level and allocation of national effort devoted to marine engineering 

 and technology, with special attention to the respective roles of industry, 

 and of the state and federal governments. 



3. An inventory of marine resources — chemicals, minerals, and food — 

 examined with a view to potential as well as present abundance and economic 

 availability. 



4. The combined environment of air — water — land viewed as a system, in- 

 cluding problems relating to the advancement of meteorology, the conserva- 

 tion of shore lines, and the pollution of estuaries. 



rt. The current level of private investment in marine exploration, ter-h- 

 nological development and the utilization of resources, with particular 



