40 SEA GRANT COLLEGES 



links," the President has stated, "not only between peoples, but to a vast new 

 untapped resource. It is becoming increasingly clear that there are large min- 

 eral deposits under the oceans. But before this treasure becomes useful, we 

 must first locate it and develop the technology to obtain it economically. We 

 must also learn more about marine biology, if we are to tap the great potential 

 food i:esources of the seas." 



President Kennedy in a message to Congress said that our "very survival" 

 may hinge upon the development of our knowledge of the oceans and the resources 

 they contain. 



Emphasizing the growing concern of members of the Congress in ocean- 

 ography is the number of legislative proposals in this area miade during the first 

 Session of the 89th Congress. Let me pay tribute, at this point, to the oceano- 

 graphic pioneer of the Congress -Senator Warren Magnuson, whose bill, as I 

 have said in the Senate, provides for the first time a clear statement of our 

 nation's goals in oceanography, and a means to determine how the federal pro- 

 gram can be organized most effectively to meet these goals. 



My proposals, I believe, would serve to augment Senator Magnuson's con- 

 cept of a well- coordinated National Council for Marine Resources and Engi- 

 neering Development. Specifically, my proposals would help engender the 

 skilled manpower and technology for the many important facets of evolving work 

 in which the Council, envisioned by Senator Magnuson, would be engaged. 



Under my bill, sea-grant colleges would be those supported by the act, 

 either in part or in whole. The bill would provide immediate assistance to al- 

 ready existing institutions, enabling them to expand established programs and to 

 develop corollary programs- -as, for example, the University of Rhode Island's 

 creation of a two-year school to train fisheries technicians. 



As it is in somany other areas relating to our country's future accomplish- 

 ments, education, I believe, is a key factor to the beneficial harvesting of the 

 seas. We need more young scientists skilled in oceanography; but, just as im- 

 portantly, we need the technicians to translate into practical results scientific 

 theories and discoveries. We need more young engineers accomplished in the 

 marine sciences, and we need the facilities and the equipment which imaginative 

 and educated minds can help us produce. 



In the past we have made tremendous strides forward in agriculture. Now 

 we need to concentrate with equal zeal on aquaculture. 



There is a close parallel between the National Sea-Grant College and Pro- 

 gram Act of 1965 I have introduced in the Senate and the legislation, originating 

 almost 100 years ago, to establish the land-grant colleges which provided such 

 a great stimulus to the development of agriculture. Modern methods of contour 

 plowing, crop rotation, the development of hybrid plants and modern farm ma- 

 chinery and equipment, all testify to the increasing advances in agriculture which 

 continue to benefit our country and its land. 



Before the advent of the land-grant colleges, the average American farmer 

 produced enough food to feed himself and four other people. Today one American 

 farmer produces food for 37 people, including five in foreign countries. In other 

 words, the American farmer has increased his productivity seven-fold. 



Contrast this 700% productive increase with that of the average individual 

 American fisherman- -which stands at only 33% on a comparable basis over the 

 same period of time- -and we can conclude that today's farmer has increased his 

 efficiency 20 -fold over today's fisherman. 



To further pinpoint these factors, statistics from the Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries show that the average medium- sized U.S. trawler fishing the North 



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