128 SEA GRANT COLLEGES 



annual summer conference of the Law of the Sea Institute will be held 

 this June here at the University of Rhode Island to explore in detail 

 the critical subject of "Offshore Boundaries and Zones." A recent 

 study by the department of food and resources economics at this uni- 

 versity disclosed that marine-oriented activities accoimt for 21 percent 

 of the aggregate income received by one and a half million persons in 

 a three-State region from Xew London through Rhode Island to Cape 

 Cod and the offshore islands of Massachusetts. So, the chamber's 

 support of Senator Pell's National Sea Grant College Act is not 

 without substantial economic foundation. Optimistic forecasters have 

 predicted an annual national market of $5 billion in oceanography 

 within 10 years, or about the current NASA budget. 



The greater Providence Chamber of Commerce urges passage of 

 the National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1965 as the key 

 stimulus to current efforts by Government and industry to establish 

 sound, long-range planning for this country's oceanographic program 

 and activities. Passage of S. 2439 will be a dramatic thrust toward 

 the crucial goal of harnessing our greatest natural resource, the sea. 

 The last earthly frontier is at this very moment lapping at our shore- 

 lines. Thank you. 



Now, speaking as a native Rhode Islander with a deep-rooted love 

 for the salt water and our many, many miles of shoreline, I hope that 

 by the production of this bill, by education and proper application, the 

 continual decay and pollution of our marshland may be arrested and 

 the irreparable damage will be stopped. I thank you again for per- 

 mitting me to come here today. 



Senator Pell. Going to one point in your testimony as to the three- 

 State region from New London through Rhode Island to Cape Cod 

 and the offshore islands of Massachusetts, where it is said that 21 per- 

 cent of the aggregate income of the people there is derived from the 

 sea. How far in does that territory go ? Is that a strip that would go 

 up the northern border of Connecticut and all of Rhode Island ? 



Mr. HoRTON. To my best information it is the costal area. I don't 

 think it would include the back extremities of Connecticut which would 

 become more agricultural. 



Senator Pell. It would consist of the counties along the coast then ? 

 It would include all of Rhode Island ? 



Mr. HoRTON. All of Rhode Island, yes. 



Senator Pell, Basically it is the area that includes the Southern 

 New England Marine Sciences Association? 



Mr. HoRTON. Yes, it is that area. 



Senator Pell. That is the area that Dr. Horn and Dr. Knauss 

 spoke about ? 



Mr. HortojST. Yes, sir. 



Senator Pell. Another point in your testimony which I would 

 like to touch on is ; you mentioned in your testimony a few moments 

 ago the question of pollution of marshland. I have here another bill 

 that I am trying to get advice on. Senator Tydings of Maryland had 

 introduced a bill on pollution, the Federal Water Pollution Contract 

 Act, and he actually mentions Rhode Island in his remarks. In our 

 State we have 4,500 acres of soft marsh and only 400 acres are ear- 

 marked for preservation. These same acres act as a nesting ground, 

 as I understand it, for fish and products of the sea. 



