SEA GRANT COLLEGES 153 



Until just recently our approach to the sea and its resources had been 

 primarilj^ from the surface. We perfected the ships and facilities 

 which operate from the surface to exploit the marine resources lying 

 slightly below the surface. But there are, in addition, tremendous un- 

 tapped resources along the ocean floor, in the ocean floor and through- 

 out the expanse of the ocean body to be studied, developed and ex- 

 ploited for the benefit of the entire Nation, and indeed for all mankind. 



The incredible quantities of untapped human food resources within 

 the sea stagger tlie imagination and illustrate tlie challenge the sea 

 presents to man's technical and scientific ability. Our oceans produce 

 about 400 million tons of animal protein each year — only about 10 

 million tons of which ai-e being harvested annually. I find it frustra- 

 ting to contemplate these enormous unutilized food resources lying 

 so close at hand when at the same time more than half of the world's 

 inhabitants are chronicall}^ hungiy or constantly undernourished. 



Not only are we not tapping this unused potential, we are not even 

 maintaining our relative position in the world. For the past 30 years 

 the U.S. fish catch has remained static while fish use has increased. In 

 1964, we imported fish and fish products valuing nearly $600 million. 

 In the last decade alone the United States has dropped from second to 

 fifth place in the scale of world fish catch, and that part of our con- 

 sumption which we import has increased by 25 percent. 



In part, this decline can be attributed to the enormous fleet of foreign 

 fishing vessels, principally Japanese and Eussian, which are operating 

 off our shores taking fish resources which should be ours. But the 

 blame must be placed as well upon our failure as a nation to take the 

 aggressive and imaginative action necessary to make our fisheries com- 

 petitive with other nations. 



But the statistics of food needs, fish catch and competitive position 

 do not begin to tell the story of the present cliallenge and opportunity 

 offered by the sea and its resources. The ocean remains our planet's 

 last frontier. We have onlj^ just begun to study its physical and bio- 

 logical laws, to seek out its resources and to harness its power for our 

 own needs. It is estimated that man obtains only 1 percent of his food 

 from the sea. While America spends billions annually to probe the 

 limitless and intangible expanse of space, we let three-quarters of our 

 own globe lie fallow and practically unproductive. Yet we know from 

 recent discoveries that vast mineral resources lie below the waters — the 

 Continental Shelf is rich in petroleum and minerals; gold and phos- 

 phorite are already being mined off our western coasts; and who can 

 deny that the mountains and valleys along the ocean floor contain the 

 same riches as the mountains and valleys which form our land con- 

 tinent. And now our scientific and technical knowledge has advanced 

 to a degree where we can begin to mine them. 



Many of us here in tlie Senate have worked hard on various pieces 

 of legislation relating to the sea — legishation to develop and process 

 fish protein concentrate, to improve the facilities and equipment of our 

 merchant and fishing fleets, and to guarantee the healtli of our fishing 

 industry against the encroaching forces of foreign competition. But 

 all of these measures, wliile necessary and important, do' not provide 

 the basic comprehensive approach which we need. 



The 1958 Geneva Convention on the Law of the Sea in effect gives 

 to tliose countries that first explore the depths of the sea the riiiht to 



