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a very few months to report on the first grants made and the substantive nature 

 of the kind of projects and institutional programs being encompassed. At that 

 time, I should like to submit a further report to you. 



Fourth, the Sea Grant Program has aroused significant interest across the 

 nation. State agencies, industries, colleges, and local and Federal facilities are 

 combining their interest and capabilities to plan joint programs. Several in- 

 dustrial firms have declared their intention of providing facilities, scholarships, 

 fellowships, and lecturers to schools expecting to participate in the Sea Grant 

 Program. 



Interstate communications have resulted from this program. Several universi- 

 ties are planning the formation of consortia to pursue joint projects and to hold 

 regular planning meetings. Several national societies have either formally or 

 informally placed their collective and individual skills at the disposal of uni- 

 versities desiring to pursue practical projects under the National Sea Grant 

 Program. Schools of agriculture in several of our finest universities have indi- 

 cated their interest in encompassing aquaculture as well. We have prepared a 

 table depicting the number of schools in each state which have requested in- 

 formation from which to prepare Sea Grant proposals. I should like to offer • 

 this for the record. 



Interest in the Sea Grant Program already indicates the proposals will, in 

 both number and size, far exceed our ability to fund all useful projects or to 

 give all qualified universities significant institutional support grants. Obviously, 

 the program will be extremely competitive and will pose a difficult task for our 

 evahiation panels. We expect that industry, business, universities, both four-year 

 and two-year colleges and technical schools, state agencies, and the public will 

 follow the development of our program with intense interest. It seems already 

 clear that the program is serving as a catalyst to initiate actions at various 

 levels of industry and government which will have an effect on nearly all aspects 

 of the national interest in the sea. 



Fifth, fiscal planning presents a problem. The President's budget for Fiscal 

 Year 1968 included $4 million for the Sea Grant Program. Although we would 

 all like to see this program grow, its rate of growth must be determined in the 

 context of national ix)licy ; and, as you are well aware, competition for the 

 Federal dollar can be expected to be extremely keen during the forthcoming 

 year. As to the future, should funds be available, I believe the program might 

 grow to perhaps an annual level of approximately $25 million in the next four 

 or five years. It is clear that the Institutional Support Program will be both 

 rewarding and expensive. Sea Grant Project Support will start at a relatively 

 modest cost and grow, because the initial proposals now in preparation are in 

 many cases feasibility studies, curriculum developments and definition studies 

 that will lead to more expensive projects in later stages. 



Sixth, Mr. Chairman, the issue which is to me the most critical of all, con- 

 cerns the nation's view of this young program. It is apparent from some of the 

 correspondence and attention we have received, that Sea Grant implies to some 

 a panacea to cure all of the ills connected with oceans development which, in 

 turn, judging from the acclaim often given to the National Ocean Program, may 

 be expected to cure all of the ills of humanity. This is not to be. Any and all 

 research and development in the oceans must be considered in very, very long 

 range dontext. 



In considering the future of the Sea Grant Program, my natural optimism 

 as a program manager must be tempered by experience and knowledge of the 

 essential nature of the ocean. I would not, under any circumstances, want to 

 mislead you into looking for pay-off from the Sea Grant Program within the 

 next couple of years. In fact, realism dictates that really significant pay-off is 

 at least a decade in the future, although useful results will be achieved before 

 that time, including graduation of some applied manpower. Our initial objec- 

 tives must mainly concern the building up of the resources from which we are 

 to accomplish practical exploitation of the seas rather than exploitation itself. 

 This building up of resources is something to which the Sea Grant concept is 

 admirably suited, and it is a goal which we approach with considerable 

 enthusiasm. 



