NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION HQ 



time under international law, have the right and. obligation to conserve 

 these coastal fishery resources, the fact is that we have no active pro- 

 gram designed to protect these stocks. 



Under the Fishery Convention, the United States will have the right 

 to promulgate fishing conservation regulations on the high seas to 

 conserve these coastal fishery resources. This will be possible only 

 if the United States has the necessary information about the resource 

 to support the conservation measures undertaken. 



However, we know little about our own coastal fishery resources. 

 I fear foreign fishermen know more about certain coastal fishery re- 

 sources in Alaska than we do. Further, the administration has ad- 

 vanced no program to implement the 1958 Fishery Convention. 



In summary, for over 350 years the nations of the world have gen- 

 erally agreed that the resources of the sea and the ocean floor were 

 held in common and that no single nation had an exclusive or even 

 preferential right to exploit or conserve these resources. The 1958 

 Fishery and Continental Shelf Conventions were dramatic departures 

 from these traditionally held tenets. 



The final ratification of the Continental Shelf Convention last fall 

 and the anticipated final ratification of the Fishery Convention this 

 year signal international acceptance of a new order and a new ap- 

 proach to the use of ocean resources. I am absolutely convinced that 

 the administration has missed entirely the significance of these recent 

 and important changes in mternational law. 



The seas are mankind's last frontier on this planet. For ages we^ 

 have treated the ocean waters as little more than hunting grounds for- 

 fishermen and highways for ships. Now we are awakening to see that 

 beneath the surface of the waters lies a vast territory every bit as 

 challenging as outer space and infinitely more promising with regard 

 to economic reward. 



Man at last has the scientific capability and teclinical mastery to. 

 meet the challenge, and his growing need for food, water, minerals, 

 power, and weather control gives him solid reasons for doing so. 



I suggest we begin to occupy and use our recently acquired 1 million 

 square miles of Continental Shelf and that the U.S. Government 

 assess our extensive coastal fishery resources. We today know so little, 

 about this territory and this environment that our initial efforts will 

 be somewhat akin to the rewards and failures of the Lewis and Clark 

 Expedition. But the adventure beneath the surface of the sea must 

 begin. 



What is needed in my opinion is a new agency with a broad mission 

 and with a chief executive who can speak effectively in Congress and 

 elsewhere for the administration regarding our civilian program on 

 the oceans. 



This is not a Navy responsibility nor is it any longer strictly a mat- 

 ter of science. The legislation I introduced would establish an inde- 

 pendent civilian agency. In my opinion, this is still the most desir- 

 able approach. 



I recognize, however, that the job could be accomplished by an ex-_ 

 pansion of the responsibilities of some division or agency within 

 either the Department of the Interior or the Department of Com-^ 

 merce. There could be an Ocean Resources Service in the Department 

 of the Interior, or ESS A in the Department of Commerce could be, 

 expanded to accomplish the job. 



