MARINE SCIENCE 113 
»/T\am sensible of the honor I have received in being allowed. to 
appear before this committee and to speak on a matter of particular 
interest’ and importance to myself and to the other members of the 
Hastern Pacific Oceanic Conference, that is, the matter of oceanogra- 
phic data from picket vessels mentioned in sections 7f, 13f, 14, and 
17£(3) of S. 901. The EPOC organization is a completely informal 
croup of people engaged in and interested in studying the Pacific 
Ocean. The attendance includes members from the Bureau of Com- 
mercial Fisheries, the Naval Electronics Laboratory, the U.S. Coast 
Guard, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Weather Bureau, the 
Hydrographic Office, the National Science Foundation, the Scripps 
Institution of Oceanography, the University of Washington, Oregon 
State College, Humboldt State College, University of Southern Cali- 
fornia, World I.G.Y. Data Center A at Texas A. & M., the California 
Department of Fish and Game, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna 
Commission, the Stanford Research Institute, the American Tuna 
Boat Association, and the California Fish Canners Association. Be- 
cause of the informality, attendance has also included in an unofficial 
but active and useful capacity representatives from the scientific 
communities in Canada, Japan, and Peru. 
Our common interest has been the study of the Pacific and our 
purpose has been to discuss our mutual problems, and in those situ- 
ations where joint efforts seemed desirable, to recommend and co- 
ordinate such efforts. Our two outstanding accomplishments to date 
are two cooperative hydrographic surveys. The first of these took 
place in the summer of 1955 and covered the area north of 20° N. lati- 
tude in the Pacific. The second took place in the summer of 1956 
and extended the coverage to 10° S. latitude. The first venture in- 
cluded the use of a total of 15 research vessels from Canada, Japan, 
and the United States. Its data, and an atlas prepared from the 
data were published last year. The second venture included the use 
of a total of 11 research vessels from France, Japan and the United 
States, and its results, including an atlas, are in the final stages of 
preparation. . 
At our annual meeting in 1959 the subject of the five Navy picket 
ships off the west coast of the United States was introduced, and a 
committee was appointed to examine whether various oceanographic 
measurements might not be made from these ships without inter- 
fering with their prime purpose. This committee, chaired by Mr. 
J. F. T. Saur of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries reported its 
work and presented a proposal at the meeting held in November 1960 
and I shall quote from their report the following items. 
-* * * two programs of observations are presently being carried out aboard 
these ships through the cooperation of the Navy personnel. In late spring, an 
albacore trolling program was started with BCF San Diego furnishing the equip- 
ment, and in the past few months temperature equipment has been placed aboard 
8 of the 11 ships by BCF Stanford and San Diego, for the purpose of making 
surface temperature observations to compare with the injection tempera- 
tures: *)*) + 
It should be emphasized that, in the above work and contacts, the attitude 
and cooperation of the officers of the squadron commands and of the officers and 
men of ‘the ships have been outstanding. They have further signified a willing- 
ness to cooperate in all reasonable ways, consistent with the primary mission of 
the picket ships, to make possible a full-scale program of oceanographic 
observations. * * * | 
