MARINE SCIENCE 39 



For example, the United States- Canadian proposal at the present 

 Geneva Conference calls for the pliasing out of all historic fishing 

 rights within 12 miles of shore during the next 10 years. There are 

 other proposals before the Conference which would give the coastal 

 States priority over a much greater distance. 



Mr. ScHAEFER. If we are to increase our harvest of the sea fisheries, 

 we must learn how efficiently to increase the production of our fisher- 

 men, both by properly conserving the stocks of fish we presently ex- 

 ploit, and by developing new fisheries on the stocks which are under- 

 utilized or completely unused, as well as by improving the effectiveness 

 of the gear and fishing techniques. 



At the same time the increased utilization of the vast protein food 

 resources of the sea is one of the important means of increasing the 

 welfare of some of the overpopulated, underfed foreign nations. 



Senator Smathers. Could we have the witness read a little louder? 



Mr. ScHAEFER. The realization of the increased harvest of the sea 

 requires, however, improved knowledge of the geographical distri- 

 butions of the living resources, and their variations in abundance in 

 space and time in relation to variations in the elements of their 

 oceanic environment, as a basis of locating new rich fishing areas, 

 and of forecasting variations in the location and abundance of the 

 harvestable stocks. 



It also requires additional fundamental knowledge of the behavior 

 of the organisms, as a basis of radical improvements in fishing tech- 

 niques. 



Detailed knowledge of the ecology and population dynamics of 

 the organisms supporting the fisheries is also required as a basis of 

 regulating the fisheries to maintain the maximum harvests year after 

 year. Nor should be overlook the possibility of "farming" the sea, 

 of increasing the harvests, in at least some areas, by suitable modifica- 

 tions of the environment and control of the organisms. 



The new knowledge needed as a basis of more effective exploitation 

 of the living resources of the sea requires an expansion of research, 

 of wide scope, closely integrated with other kinds of oceanographic 

 research — physical, chemical, and biological. 



There are, in addition, legal, economic, and technological aspects of 

 fisheries utilization which need to be included in a comprehensive 

 research plan. 



The National Academy of Sciences' Committee on OceanogTaphy 

 in the chapter of its report on "Ocean Resources" has attempted to 

 outline the kinds of research which are especially required, to identify 

 particular research problems which are m our opinion most critical, 

 and to estimate the additional funds which will be needed for an 

 adequate progTam over the next several years. 



I camiot overemphasize, however, that this recommended program 

 of resources research is only one part of a broader program of in- 

 creased oceanographic study, and that parts of the program outlined 

 in other sections of the report, such as the sections on "Ocean Sur- 

 veys," "New Devices," and "Basic Research," are also of fundamental 

 importance to the solution of the problems of utilization and manage- 

 ment of the sea fisheries. 



Certain newly discovered mineral resources of the sea floor, such as 

 the ferromanganese nodules which are abundant in some places, also 



