SEA GRANT COLLEGES 273 



A Statement on the National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1965 



(S. 2439, 89th Cong.) 



This is an expression of views supporting the biological sciences aspects of the 

 sea grant colleges and programs as proposed in the National Sea Grant College 

 and Program Act of 1965 : 



1. WHT SHOULD SEA GRANT COLLEGES AND PROGRAMS BE ESTABLISHED? 



A. The orderly development and exploitation of marine resources is essential 

 to the world's resource demands of the future. The value of the materials and 

 commodities presently obtained from marine sources can be used only as a very 

 conservative index of the potential value of the resource. The problem is not a 

 lack of resources but a need to identify and locate the stocks of useful items and 

 to develop techniques for their harvest. It is well established that there are 

 large untapped fisheries off the coast of the United States. The U.S. catch in 

 1963 was approximately 4.8 billion pounds of all species of fish, while a recent con- 

 servative estimate places the potential catch in the vicinity of 20 billion pounds 

 (McKernan, D. L., 1965, ''The Fish Boat." H. L. Peace Publishers, New Orleans, 



pp. 14-15). 



B. Deveopment of aquaculture will benefit the United States as well as other 

 countries and enhance the position of the United States as a producer of food for 

 worldwide consumption. Decline of the ability of the United States to compete in 

 harvesting the marine fishery has resulted in a drop from second to fifth place in 

 world production between 1948 and 1963. During this interval America's con- 

 tribution to the world catch decreased from 12.4 to 5.8 percent. From 1949 to 

 1963 our imports rose from 20 to 59 percent of the U.S. market for fish (anony- 

 mous). 1965. "The Fish Boat," H. L. Peace Publishers, New Orleans, pp. 29-.52). 

 From these data, it may be inferred that the United States has entered the world 

 market in comi>etition with countries less able to produce their own supplies of 

 scarce protein. 



C. The gap between basic and applied marine research must be narrowed. Any 

 discussion of this topic must include recognition of the substantial deficiencies 

 which exist in our store of basic information on biological, marine resources. 

 Equally critical is the need for application of existing knowledge. Secretary 

 Stewart L. Udall, U.S. Department of the Interior, has summed up the problem : 

 "Clearly what is missing is application of the results of our research scientists 

 to the technological problems of our fishing industry. The problem is to bridge, 

 on a continuing basis, the gap between the basic and the applied. The fisherman 

 requires more widespread application of advanced location devices and the devel- 

 opment of new ones. He needs strategic information, the kind that can be 

 derived from analysis and dissemination of the latest available information on 

 ocean currents and water temperatures so that he can proceed with a minimum 

 of delay to the ocean areas most likely to yield an abundance of fish of the kind 

 he is seeking. He likewise needs the most economical means of preserving the 

 catch against deterioration between the sea and the consumer" (Udall, 1965, 

 Fishing Gazette, Fishing Gazette Publishing Co., New York, p. 10) . The commer- 

 cial fisherman needs to be continually informed on matters that will make it 

 possible for him to become a more efficient fisherman, and thereby improve the 

 economic status of the fishing industry as well as his own standard of living. The 

 industry engaged in processing fishery resources also needs to be responsive to 

 advances in food technology. In a sense, a gap also exists between basic knowl- 

 edge and its application when a renewable marine resource goes to waste for lack 

 of markets. 



D. It is imperative to the well-being of the United States that knowledge of the 

 marine resources off our shores be expanded and refined. How can we hold 

 intelligent discussions with foreign powers aimed at the signing of treaties for 

 the conservation of fishery resources if we do not have information on the species 

 present and on their populations, rates of production, and requirements'? It 

 would not be surprising to learn that some foreign countries- — Russia, for ex- 

 ample — might be better informed on some of our fishery resources than we are. 



2. WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE ABSENCE OF ORDERLY DEVELOPMENT AND 



INTBXLIGENT MANAGEMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES 



A. Many potentially valuable marine resources will remain unrecognized and, 

 therefore, unexploited. 



