SEA GRANT COLLEGES 21 



development programs must be undertaken, with Federal Government assistance. 

 Many of these development programs require an interdisciplinary approach, 

 which is found in a college or university and is less likely to be found in any 

 single mission-oriented Federal laboratory. 



PUBLIC SERVICE 



Public service is an important part of the present-day university. The agricul- 

 tural extension program of a land-grant college has over the years been extremely 

 successful. An analogous program is a sea grant college with the fisheries in- 

 dustry, and other segments of marine industry, could and should be initiated. 

 Large-scale development programs such as MIT's Lincoln Laboratory or Cal 

 Tech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory could be a part of the sea grant college program, 

 but are not envisaged at this time. We see the relationship of the sea grant 

 college to marine industry as being closer to the relationship of the agricultural 

 experiment station to the agricultural industry. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING OUR MARINE RESOURCES 



If man can occupy and exploit the oceans, he will. If we in the United States 

 don't offer leadership in this venture, people of other countries will. The history 

 of the development of this country is an excellent example of the axiom that 

 eventual control of the land goes to those people who occupy the land and not to 

 those with the largest army. It is not in the interest of the United States to 

 forfeit our right to the use of 70 percent of the surface of the earth because of our 

 failure to master the oceans. Although our Navy is the most powerful in the 

 world, our traditional marine industries — fisheries and merchant marine — are 

 weak and, on a comparative basis, growing weaker. The 1958 Geneva Conven- 

 tion on the Law of the Sea gives local control to the sea bed and subsoil of the 

 submarine area adjacent to the coast to the depth of 200 meters, or beyond that 

 limit to where the depths of the superjacent waters admit the exploitation of the 

 natural resources of the area. In other words, those countries who can first 

 exploit the depths of the ocean can control them. 



In the near future, it will be possible for men to live in depths of 1,000 feet. 

 Oil wells are going to be drilled in water depths greater than 1,000 feet. Deep 

 submergence vessels are now being developed which will operate at any depth in 

 the ocean. We will soon have methods of dredging minerals from deep ocean 

 basins. It is in our national interest that these techniques be exploited ; that the 

 United States does, in fact, master the oceans. 



The growth of Soviet Russia's naval power is well known. So is the growth 

 of their oceanography program. What is often not recognized is that the 

 U.S.S.R. is becoming a major user of the oceans. In a 30-year period, the Rus- 

 sian fish catch went from 0.5 million tons to 5.6 million tons. During this same 

 period the U.S. catch has oscillated between 2.0 to 2.7 million tons per year. The 

 U.S.S.R. merchant marine, which was almost nonexistent a few years ago, will 

 soon exceed ours in total carrying capacity. There appears to be good reason to 

 believe that the U.S.S.R. has decided to attain mastery of the sea. 



The oceans can provide the animal protein resources needed by the world's 

 population. A catch of 60 million tons a year, if properly exploited, could 

 provide the animal protein requirements for 3 billion people. It is estimated that 

 the oceans produce several times this amount of fish a year of a size suitable for 

 exploitation. Techniques of making fish protein concentrate from so-called 

 trash fish have been developed. This material ships well, does not decompose 

 easily, and can be mixed with rice, grain, beans, and other indigenous foods. 

 It is possible that we can provide the means of solving the most diflScult part of 

 the world's food problem — the lack of animal protein. 



ANALOGY OF SEA GRANT COLLEGES TO LAND GRANT COLLEGES 



The sea grant colleges have a special role to play in the mastery of the oceans, 

 and it is here that the analogy with the land-grant colleges is pertinent. We 

 are not suggesting the establishment of separate schools analogous to the early 

 land-grant colleges ; nor are we suggesting that the granting of offshore lands to 

 sea grant colleges is a necessary part of the analogy (although such lands might 

 prove useful) . What is suggested is the adoption of the system developed by the 

 land-grant college program for turning scientific results to economic use. The 

 land-grant colleges with their agriculture and engineering experiment stations, 



