446 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



Mr. Reinecke, Because of your vast experience, I would be inter- 

 ested in hearing what types of commercial uses, other than transporta- 

 tion and fisheries, you feel we can make of the bottom of the ocean 

 within the foreseeable future. 



Dr. Chapman. It is not the foreseeable future. We already have 

 minino" operations going on the Continental Shelf. The diamond ac- 

 tivity in South Africa, you remember, came out of California. Bill 

 Bascombe and his group developed the ship that was used in the South 

 African work, and they are still heavily involved there. This, I point 

 out to you, is of economic benefit to California because what we are 

 doing is exporting skills and getting paid quite well for them. 



There is also tin mining going on off the Malay Peninsula, and also 

 Mr. Bascombe's group is again engaged in this. So, there are already 

 some other things than oil and gas being taken from the Continental 

 Shelf. Sulphur, of course, is a considerable one. We have very large 

 phosphate deposits off the coast of southern California which are nearly 

 to the commercial practicability stage of harvesting. There is a wide 

 range of mineral deposits on the Continental Shelf capable of exploi- 

 tation. 



One of the difficulties involved in this is not the legal implications. 

 We know to whom we have to pay rent on the Continental Shelf. 

 There isn't any question of that. One of the problems is our lack of 

 being able to predict the weather in the ocean as well as above the 

 ocean. I am saying that the var'iations in the crosscurrents and the 

 shifting bottom sediments are a quite considerable nuisance to people 

 operating on the bottom of the Continental Shelf. This is even caus- 

 ing the oil people substantial difficulty, and they would like to have 

 us know more about the environment of the liquid ocean as it affects 

 their operations under the sea. 



However, I think aside from the merchant marine, really the most 

 important worldwide aspect of the ocean presently is the protein re- 

 sources. I point out to you that this is a major socioeconomic problem 

 of the world as a whole. Over 60 percent of the people of the world 

 do not have an adequate protein content in their diet to maintain 

 health, welfare, and energy of the body. 



The ocean is annually producing sufficient animal protein to provide 

 the total necessities for protein of a human population of approxi- 

 mately 10 times the size of the present world population. What we 

 need to do is harvest a larger share of this production which now 

 mostly goes to waste. 



]Mr! Eeinecke. Do you see in the foreseeable future any other types 

 of industry, such as undersea farming, which we hear a lot about ? Is 

 this within the practical realm, or what type of plant or animal would 

 you be referring to ? 



Dr. Chapman. One thing we are going to do is get water to southern 

 California. We are going to get water out of the ocean. This is the 

 thing the ocean is most f i3l of and one of the things we need most of 

 in southern California. A thing not often realized is there is an enor- 

 mous kelp harvest. In Cali-Porni", for instance, this is almost coming 

 now to a farming proposition. We take 140,000 tons of kelp a year 

 off the coast of California presently. This is a form of farming. 



Our oyster industry on the west coast is entirely a farming matter. 

 It is still a wild harvest, substantially, on the east coast. 



