160 MARINE SCIENCE 
It should be emphasized that marine biology deals with plants as well as with 
animals. While bigger fish eat smaller fish, this does not go on ad infinitum, 
but smaller animals feed on the rich flora of the oceans. Besides, being the ulti- 
mate source of energy of all life, animal as well as plant, the marine plants have 
many other properties capable of important practical application, including 
noxious effects like fish killing “red tides” in the Gulf Stream which must be 
studied to be eliminated. 
To summarize, construction and provision of substantially enlarged facilities 
for marine science and research constitutes a vital and urgent need for national 
security and the vital issues of food supply and public health. Evidently, these 
needs can no longer be met to a satisfactory extent from private sources and 
require congressional appropriations beyond existing incidental support by the 
Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, etc. The Senate bill 8S. 
$01 adequately fills this gap in well organized form. I strongly urge its passage 
by Congress. 
STATEMENT BY THE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE OF FISHERIES, UNIVERSITY 
OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, WASH. 
Over 70 percent of the surface of the world is covered with water and these 
waters represent the world’s only major unexploited source of protein food. 
This food is now urgently needed in countries where the people have a diet 
deficient in proteins. In addition, the oceans will assume an important role as a 
potential source of food for the large populations that are expected in the future. 
The present utilization of the resources of the sea represents only an insignifi- 
eant fraction of its potential. Relatively few species of fish and shellfish are 
exploited but while some of these are being overexploited, the untouched potential 
which exists includes undetermined quantities of traditional foodstuffs, such as 
fish and shellfish, as well as large stocks of other organic materials such as phyto- 
plankton and zooplankton. Because of our very limited understanding of the 
relationship of fish populations to food organisms and the chemical and biological 
eyeles in the sea, it is doubtful that we are utilizing to the best advantage even 
those stocks which are harvested. 
At present the United States is not in a position of want and there seems 
no likelihood of change in this condition in the foreseeable future. This is 
expressed officially in the little interest our country shows in fisheries and in 
fishing and in our relatively low per capita consumption of fish and shellfish. 
It is significant that the per capita consumption of fish in the United States has 
remained the same for some 30 years during which our total consumption of 
fish has increased only in proportion to our population. However, during the 
last 20 years the total production of marine foods by U.S. fishermen has not 
inereased, so that the increasing consumption of fish is being supplied by im- 
ports. While this may not be viewed as a disadvantage by those interested 
in promoting imports from other countries, there is some question as to the 
wisdom of permitting this country to develop a dependency upon foreign sources 
for foods which can be supplied from our own waters by our own fishermen. 
Some problems typical of those that will arise if this country does not develop 
a better knowledge of the potential fish supplies are now presented by the rapid 
growth of the fishing fleets of Soviet Russia. Russia has added to its fleet the 
largest and most modern fishing and factory vessels in existence. Recent 
reports indicate that over 160 vessels are operating on the Grand Banks off 
the east coast of Canada. Another large fieet of fishing and processing vessels 
is operating in the Bering Sea. Still more recent reports indicate the presence 
of well-equipped Russian fisheries research vessels in the Gulf of Alaska. 
Russia has expanded her fleets as a part of an announced plan to increase fixed 
fish production by about 250,000 tons annually during the next several years. 
A major part of her long-range plan is further expansion of her high seas fleets 
in other areas of the world. 
These large fishing fleets that are being developed by Russia along both 
coasts of North America should not be viewed lightly. At the very least, as 
they grow in size they can threaten the stability and the productivity of the 
fish stocks along our coast. Without a major intensification of biological re- 
search on these fish stocks we will have no basis for measuring the effect of 
this intensive fishing. 
