248 SEA GRANT COLLEGES 



But in a great many cases scientific findings can be put to good use by mankind, 

 to feed or clothe liim ; to satisfy any of a variety of neetls ; in general to make 

 his life more pleasant and productive. If this is possible it appears to be highly 

 desirable if not mandatory tliat science takes the next step in the sequence. This 

 step is to conduct the applied research which translates the findings of pure 

 science into more food, more minerals, more energy, more of all the things that 

 mankind requires. Finally, the results of this applied technology must be demon- 

 strated to the industrial community so that it is adopted by them. This means 

 that the community must be made aware of developments and of their potential. 



In the United States the sequence of events in oceanographic research has usu- 

 ally stopped at phase three, an understanding of the natural processes. We should 

 now begin much more actively to advance to stage four, the translation of scien- 

 tific findings into applications for use by mankind. 



Undoubtedly one of the compelling reasons why our country has not usually 

 advanced from theoretical oceanography into applied oceanography is that very 

 little need exists here for additional food or minerals or many of the other things 

 which the sea can provide. But others have felt a sharp need for these resources, 

 and the consequence is that some of the other countries of the world have ad- 

 vanced enormously in applying oceanographic knowledge to the welfare of their 

 nations. For example, some of us think that Russia and Japan have advanced 

 so far in applied oceanography as to pose a serious threat to the United States. 

 And even if we do not need what the sea can provide us. in our condition of rela- 

 tive plenty, this situation will not prevail forever. Someday — and it may be 

 sooner than we think — even the United States will require additional quantities 

 of food and of the other consumables which can be taken from the sea. 



If the United States has an excess of food, Japan has a shortage, especially of 

 proteins. The sharp necessity to feed her large population from a land incapable 

 of producing sufficient protein food has driven Japanese fishing fleets to all the 

 oceans of the world. Much of the enormous expansion of the Japanese fisheries 

 has come within the last decade or so. Prior to World War II Japan was a lead- 

 ing fishing nation of the world, but the level of activity was much lower than it is 

 now. Since then competition has become stiff, but the Japanese have kept pace, 

 being surpassefl only by the amazing rise of Peru. Japanese fishing boats and fac- 

 tory ships are now seen again in the Bering Sea, where their presence raised 

 storms of protest in the United States before World War II. They are seen in the 

 mid-Pacific, where they are fishing pelagic schools of tunas and billfishes and 

 cashing in on the research of the Americans as well as of their own scientists. 

 They are fishing the whole tropical Atlantic from Brazil to West Africa. Their 

 vessels are among the most active in the new rich fisheries in the bight of Africa. 

 They are fishing tuna in the Indian Ocean. They were the first to explore the 

 shrimp fisheries in the Gulf of iMexico and the coast of Texas. In October of 

 1962 they appeared in the northwest Atlantic, near Newfoundland. 



They are fishing off east Africa and off Antarctica. They are successful be- 

 cause they have done what the United States has not done, which is to translate 

 ocean research into practical methods of increasing the catch of oceanic fish. 



Japan was the leading fishing nation of the world before the Second World 

 War so she had a running start in attaining her present eminence. On the other 

 hand Russia was nowhere in sight as a marine fishing nation at that time, get- 

 ting most of her fish from fresh water lakes and ponds. Now, a little over two 

 decades after the war. Russia has leaped to the position as the third fishing 

 nation in the world, ahead of the United States by two places. She has gained 

 this position because she recognizes the importance of exploitation of the sea 

 and has adopted as a national policy the necessity of translating pure scientific 

 research in oceanography into industrial application, and because she has imple- 

 mented this policy by widespread applied research and training. Like the 

 Japanese, the Russians are seen in ships over the world oceans. Their boats 

 appear not individually, not in pairs, but in great fleets. Fine new vessels with 

 the latest equipment for the capture and processing of fish are accompanied by 

 factory ships. No species of fish captured is discarded ; no part of any fish caught 

 is wasted. The Soviet vessels are seen in the northeast Atlantic where their 

 drifting net still foul the propellers of American and Canadian vessels. Russian 

 oceanographers in exploratory fishing vessels were the first to work off the rich 

 west African coasts. Russian are fishing off South Africa, in the northeast 

 Pacific, in Antarctica. Russia trawlers are fishing alongside Japanese trawlers 

 in the Bering Sea. 



It is of great importance to note in our present context that both .Japan ami 

 Russia have enormous and highly organized systems of university-level training 



