325 



Dr. Ketchum. Very good. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Thank you, Mr. Pelly. 



Doctor, I will recognize our good friend and distinguished member 

 of this body — as Mr. Pelly says we constantly hear about Woods 

 Hole — our good friend from Massachusetts, Mr. Keith. 



Dr. Ketchum. It is a pleasure to see Mr, Keith to. 



JMr. Keith. I can hardly resist smiling at this most recent exchange, 

 because what Puget Sound did, Falmouth didn't do. I suspect that 

 the Doctor would not want to hang Falmouth linen on tliis line at this 

 time. 



Dr. Ketchum. I don't think it will serve any useful purpose, Mr. 

 Keith. 



Mr. Keith. I was particularly interested in that you are the first 

 one I believe who has talked about some of the positive things that 

 you can do. I asked former Secretary Train yesterday, if his testi- 

 mony could not be a little bit more positive. It seemed to me to be 

 quite negative. He was constantly talking about the restrictions that 

 we must apply. 



He blushed a bit. But what I had in mind is what you mentioned 

 here, the positive utilization of tecliniques that would make the sea 

 a better place in which to practice aquaculture. Perhaps we could use 

 the sea as a receptacle for old automobiles to create reefs that would 

 provide breeding grounds for fish. 



I wonder if you can think of any other techniques that might im- 

 prove the problem. 



Do you have any observations to make in that respect ? 



It occurs to me that sewage, at an appropriate point in treatment, 

 could conceivably provide the phosphates and nitrates to provide a 

 flow of nutrients in the ocean that would be advantageous for fish. 



Am I correct in this impression ? 



Dr. Ketchum. I think you are entirely correct. We have one mem- 

 ber of our staff, a very distinguished member, Dr. John Ryther, whom 

 I know Mr. Keith knows, who is now on a laboratory scale studying 

 just exactly this possibility of growing phytoplankton on secondary 

 treated sewage, feeding this phytoplankton to oysters, growing the 

 oysters on the plant produced in the seawater and ultimately he will 

 add scavengers in the system so that in essence one can conceive of 

 having the tertiary treatment not only remove these materials but 

 produce the product that would be beneficial to mankind. 



Mr. DiNGELL. You have answered precisely my point. 



It is possible also to utilize this just by releasing the effluent in a 

 certain fashion in certain places and times in the ocean to perhaps 

 create an increase in the plankton growth and the fish life in a given 

 area through this particular device ? 



Dr. Ivetchum. There are many parts of the ocean which are limited 

 by a lack of nutrients. The problem here is in maintaining the right 

 balance of these elements — they are not balanced just the way 

 you would like them in sewage — and of keeping them at the proper 

 concentration so that you don't get these excessive growths of 

 eutrophication. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Thank you. Doctor. I thank the gentleman. 

 _Mr. Keith. I think j^ou have lent a balanced philosophy to this 

 discussion that is badly needed. I think Japan has done a great deal 



