246 



was reached earlier on land for elephants, buffalos, and passenger pigeons? If 

 hunting has reached its practical limit, then the only way of increasing the food 

 resources of the ocean is by cultivation— of plants by farming and of animals by 

 herding. The high value per ton of animals has led to some initial efforts in herd- 

 ing, particularly in Japan. Probably these efforts will continue and even increase 

 although the cost of catching food for the captive animals and for confining 

 them presently exceeds the cost of catching the desired animals in their wild 



Since farming is far closer to the energy source on the complex and inefficient 

 food pyramid than is herding, one should expect gre;iter rewards from farming 

 than from herding. However, farming of the ocean ( for plants ) has as its major 

 obstacle the difficulty of harvesting. Most of the bulk of plants that live in the 

 ocean are microscopic in size and they are distributed in three dimensions. The 

 cost (energy) of harvesting them exceeds the value (energy) that is recovered 

 by eating (or burning) the crop. Near shore in clear water larger attached algae 

 can be grown, but most of thom are not particularly tasty and few are used 

 directly as food. We do not know of a single experimental project in the United 

 States that is designed to farm the ocean ! Many projects investigate laboratory 

 aspects of photosynthesis, plant physiology, and biochemistry, but none appear to 

 be making direct tests of planting and harvesting in the ocean. One answer is 

 that "we must understand the processes before they can be utilized," but we may 

 ask in return "how well did early man understand photosynthesis and bio- 

 chemistry when he improved and adapted to farming the primitive corn and other 

 wild plants that he had encountered in his gathering stage of economy?" 



These major conclusions from the study are quite self-evident, but for readers 

 who have not looked into the literature of marine science the following remarks 

 may be helpful : 



(1) Photosynthetic production in the ocean is compared to that on land, al- 

 though great regional variations in productivity exist in both environments. Since 

 the area of the ocean is nearly three times that of the land, the potential harvest 

 is proportionally large, even without equivalent agricultural practices. 



(2) The old concept of the freedom of the seas, which develoi>ed because the 

 ocean was considered nearly worthless except for cheap transportation and 

 defense, is diametrically opposed to wise utilization of the seas. 



(3) Fishermen prefer to sell fresh fish because the price is much higher than 

 for the so-called "trash" fish, which are being increasingly processed into fish meal 

 as an additive for chicken and cattle food. Fish flour, a more refined product that 

 is fit for human consumption, is just coming onto the market; it is an efficient 

 source of cheap protein for the human diet. 



(4) Fishermen are likely to remain hunters rather than herders or farmers 

 unless responsibility is clearly defined for management of the biological resources 

 available in the saltwater envelope that covers so much of the world. For some 

 resources national agencies can be adequate, but for others some international 

 agency is needed. 



[From Geological Survey Research 1965] 



Some Potential Mineral Resources of the Atlantic Continental Margin * 



(By K. O. Emery, Woods Hole, Mass.) 



Abstract. — Preliminary findings from a current geological investiga- 

 tion indicate that the continental shelf and the upper part of the conti- 

 nental .slope off the Atlantic coast of the United States may be the site 

 of large deiwsits of construction sand, pho.sphorite. manganese oxide, 

 and petroleum. The sand covers most of the continental shelf, the phos- 

 phorite occurs near the top of the continental slope and its southward 

 extensitm inshore of the Blake Plateau, and manganese nodules are 

 common on the Blake Plateau. Petroleum source beds and structures 

 appear to be most favorable along (1) a seaward extension of the Cape 

 Fear Arch, (2) the outer part of the continental shelf from south of 

 Boston northeastward probably to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, 

 and (3) a probable fault zone southeast of New York City. 



' Contribution No. 1615 of the Woods Hole Oceanographlc Institution. 



