Emphasis should be placed on development of this technology for ex- 
port to underdeveloped countries in which malnutrition exists. 
A program for the development of marine food resources offers a 
major opportunity for substantive international cooperation. Several 
countries, including Japan, U.S.S.R., and Norway, have advanced 
technologies for fishing. An international effort to further this tech- 
nology and expand it to other marine food resources for the benefit of 
underdeveloped nations could be of major importance in achieving 
peace on earth. Such a program might be developed through auspices 
of the United Nations. 
Preserving the Near-Shore Environment. Almost half our popu- 
lation lives near the margins of the oceans or the Great Lakes. The 
near-shore environment is thus of critical importance. This environ- 
ment is being modified rapidly, by human activities, in ways that are 
unknown in detail but broadly are undesirable (see secs. 3, 6.4). 
Pollution, which renders beaches unsafe for swimmers, destroys valu- 
able fisheries and generally degrades the coastline, is the chief modi- 
fication. This problem is urgent, and dangers have not been ade- 
quately recognized. Specific recommendations cannot be made for 
solution of this serious problem because the research to date has been 
largely ineffectual. Therefore, the Panel recommends intensification 
of research in the area of pollution and pollution control. 
Recommendations with regard to marine biology affect both the 
long-range goal of increasing marine food resources and preserving 
the near-shore environment. Specific recommendations are: 
1. Intensive multidisciplinary studies of biological communities in 
marine habitats subject to human influence and exploitation. Such 
studies should include estuaries and the continental shelf. A very 
important, special case is the proposed sea level canal to join the 
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (see secs. 3.3, 6.4). 
2. Establishment of marine wilderness preserves to provide a base- 
line for future studies (see sec. 3.4). 
3. Construction of facilities needed for studying organisms in special 
marine environments such as the deep sea and tropics (see sec. 10.7). 
4, Increased encouragement and support of identification and use 
of marine organisms as tools for biomedical research and as potential 
sources of drugs (see sec. 6.4). 
5. Establishment of a national center for collection, maintenance, 
and distribution of living marine organisms for use in marine and 
biological research (see sec. 10.7). 
Unity of Environmental Sciences. Throughout its investigations 
the Panel has been impressed by the unity of environmental sciences. 
Methods of investigation, intellectual concepts and ways of analyzing 
data are remarkably alike in oceanography, meteorology and solid- 
earth geophysics. Educational, industrial, and governmental orga- 
XI 
