138 MARINE SCIENCE 



Duke University, 

 Department of Zoology, 

 Durham, N.G., December 17, 1959. 

 Committee on Interstate and Forf.ign Commerce, 

 New Senate Office Building, Washiiu/ion, D.C. 



Dear Sirs : We appreciate beinc sent a copy of bill S. 2692 by Senator Mag- 

 nuson and the invitation to send our comments to your committee. Oceanogra- 

 phy is one of the major research fields that has been inadequately supported 

 in the past and it is of the utmost importance that such research be pushed 

 forward as rapidly as possible. In the bill the follow^ing statement appears 

 under "Declaration of Policy," "that sound national policy requires that the 

 United States not be excelled in the fields of oceanographic research, basic, 

 military, or applied, by any nation which may presently or in the future 

 threaten our general welfare, etc." It is to be regretted that oceanography, 

 as well as other basic sciences, has to be tied into the cold war with Russia 

 to obtain adequate support. If such be the case, however, the United States 

 suffers from comparison. Russia has more and larger oceanographic vessels 

 than any other country in the world. From published accounts and reports 

 the Russians gave at the September 1959 International Oceanographic Con- 

 gress in New York, it can be safely stated that their research has been thorough 

 in all phases of oceanography. They have been concerned with basic research 

 which could have little relation to the military effort as well as with practical 

 problems. They have made thorough surveys of large areas of the Arctic, 

 Indian, and Pacific Oceans, and less extensive ones of the Atlantic. 



Thus, it will take the marine scientists of the United States considerable time 

 to equal the Russians in oceanographic research productivity. To carry out 

 the declaration of policy of the Magnuson bill, it is of the utmost importance 

 that all marine scientists be enlisted in the Tenoc program including those 

 from universities, state and private laboratories, as well as those from Federal 

 laboratories. 



As members of the Executive Committee of the Duke University Marine 

 Laboratory, we are particularly concerned with the sections of the bill that 

 include biological oceanography. Each member of the executive committee 

 of our laboratory has studied the Magnuson bill and offered suggestions. 

 After considerable and thoughtful discussion, those which we believe to have 

 merit are summarized in the following paragraphs. 



The Executive Committee of the Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beau- 

 fort, N.C., approves of the general philosophy of the Magnuson bill. We should 

 like, however, to offer the following suggestions for consideration : 



(1) We have the utmost confidence in the National Science Foundation and 

 know that this agency is capable of assuming the responsibilities recommended 

 in the bill on pages 1-8. 



(2) We wish to emphasize the importance of evaluating the research work 

 (e, p. 6) sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, National Science Foun- 

 dation, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 in various fields of oceanography. We recommend that areas of research be 

 assigned and money be allotted to each agency for the Tenoc program on the 

 basis of quality of research done and competence of the scientists supported 

 by each agency in the past. 



(3) It is the policy of the Office of Naval Research, the National Science 

 Foundation, and the Atomic Energy Commission to accept research proposals 

 and have them evaluated wholly on the basis of scientific merit by a panel 

 of competent scientists. If the proposal is approved, the grantee or contractor 

 is notified promptly and money, if available, is allocated to the project. The 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, on the other hand, operates in quite a different 

 fashion. Like the above agencies, this bureau will accept research proposals 

 from outside scientists ; however, in many cases, representatives of the Bureau 

 of Commercial Fisheries alone decide whether or not the proposal will be con- 

 sidered. If an examination is made of the manner in which Saltonstall-Kennedy 

 funds have been spent, we believe it can be shown that very few contracts 

 were let to scientists affiliated with State or university-afliliated marine 

 laboratories. 



We propose, therefore, that provisions be made in the bill for the Bureau 

 of Commercial Fisheries to handle research proposals in the same manner as 

 do the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Science Foundation, and the 

 OflBce of Naval Research. In short, we believe paragraph (g) on page 10 is 



