7.2. AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF THE OCEANOGRAPHIC 
PROGRAM 
The objectives or missions of the national oceanographic program 
may be placed under six headings.* 
1. Improved environmental prediction and modification ; 
2, Aiding development of new sources of raw materials for in- 
dustrial use; 
8. Furthering the more complete exploitation of biological re- 
sources represented by marine life, ranging from improved fish- 
eries’ yields to biomedical applications ; 
4. Improvement of near-oceanographic environment by finding 
more expeditious and less costly means to preserve, modify, or 
reduce pollution of estuaries, beaches, and other coastal waters; 
5. Improvement in ocean navigation, ship design, and ports; 
6. National defense. 
At the present, allocation of national oceanographic program funds 
to these missions (other than defense, which is treated separately else- 
where in this report) appears to be roughly as shown in table 7.1. 
These figures do not include approximately $14 to $15 million of gen- 
era] or second tier nondefense research support not directly related to a 
mission. For the most part, this second tier research is conducted at 
academic institutions or similar facilities and is funded by NSF. 
By way of comparison, NASCO estimates of the discounted annual 
value of average benefits to be realized from civilian missions of the 
national oceanographic program are presented in table 7.2. It should 
be stressed that these numbers are reported only to lend perspective. 
There are many reasons for suspecting these estimates.* Further- 
more, the costs reported in table 7.1 are not directly comparable to 
benefits reported in table 7.2, since realization of estimated benefits 
would depend upon additional investments or outlays being under- 
taken elsewhere by the government or in the private sector of the econ- 
omy to complement these programs. For example, environmental 
objectives would almost surely need to be complemented by Weather 
Bureau activities (which now require an expenditure of well over $100 
* These mission definitions were adapted from the NAS/NRC report, “Economic 
Benefits From Oceanographic Research.” Much of the structure of the following 
discussion results from accepting these definitions to facilitate comparisons. 
* For documentation of this point see Crutchfield, et al. 
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