SEA GRANT COLLEGES 13 



a relatively peaceful world where science and technology had assumed 

 a new significance. Billions of dollars have been channeled into uni- 

 versity laboratories through a complex structure of grants and con- 

 tracts. In many ways the financial relationships that have evolved 

 have been less satisfying and fruitful than the formula-type alloca- 

 tions upon which an institution may build a solid and reasonably per- 

 manent structure. The land grant allocations can be considered a type 

 of endowment, whereas grants and contracts are here today and gone 

 tomorrow. To me this is the essential point to be grasped in consider- 

 ing the sea grant legislation. 



The name "sea grant" implies an institution of higher learning offer- 

 ing a broad spectrum of studies relating to the sea. Its mission would 

 be to train the scientists, engineers, economists, political scientists, 

 lawyer, doctors, and hundreds of others who will be needed if we are 

 going to live and work on and under the sea. We also need what Dr. 

 Athelstan Spilhaus has so aptly called the county agent in hip boots 

 to transmit our knowledge of the ocean environment to the people who 

 will apply it. 



Formula or institutional grants would be required to support such 

 a system of sea grant colleges. Possibly there should be one such in- 

 stitution in each of the 30 states bordering the Great Lakes and the 

 oceans. In addition, it would be reasonable to allocate about half the 

 available funds on a competitive basis to any college or university 

 which could make a contribution to understanding the sea and its 

 creatures. 



Any examination of the sea grant concept would be incomplete, if 

 it did not touch on at least one other area. Admittedly, full-scale ex- 

 ploration of any new frontier, whether it be space or the ocean depths, 

 carries with it an element of romance and adventure. However, the 

 oceans and their depths promise much more. In support of this argu- 

 ment, I would make passing reference to the 50-page report published 

 by the Committee on Oceanography of the National Academy of 

 Sciences-National Research Council entitled "Economic Benefits 

 From Oceanographic Research." I understand some of the authors 

 of this document may be called as witnesses, but a few figures should be 

 mentioned. This report estimated that a continuing national invest- 

 ment of approximately $165 million a year in fisheries production, 

 undersea mining, marine recreation projects, improvement of sewage 

 disposal methods, reduction of shipping costs, and improvement of 

 weather forecasting techniques could produce savings of nearly $3 

 billion a year or increase annual production by nearly that much. 



Finally, if for no other reason, we need sea grant colleges as a 

 weapon in the global battle against hunger and disease. Experts have 

 estimated that at least 500 million persons suffer from critical deficien- 

 cies of animal protein. Meanwhile, the world's population increases 

 by nearly 200,000 persons each day. At the present rate, the global 

 population of 3.4 billion persons will more than double by the year 

 2000. 



In many countries, such as Japan, there is little possibility of con- 

 verting any substantial amount of additional land to agricultural use. 

 In other parts of the world, poor weather and lack of adequate moist- 

 ure make it difficult to cultivate the soil. However, each square mile 

 of ocean contains up to 4,000 tons of vegetation and a majority of all 



