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concentrate as a new source of protein energy for the large and un- 

 fortunately growing number of malnourished people among the 

 world's population. 



In response to the demands of the act and of the Council, the Agency 

 for International Development has created a Food From the Sea 

 Service within the Office of the War on Hunger. I believe it is a 

 fortunate conjunction of circumstances under which the increasing 

 realization that an unfavorable balance exists between the world's 

 population and the amount of food produced came at a time when 

 it was also realized that the ocean contains a vast reservoir of untapped 

 food resources. While food from the sea is not a panacea, it will be an 

 indispensable weapon from the world's war on hunger. 



Marine resource development has always had a part in our AID 

 programs. An example of the kind of important work undertaken in 

 the development of fisheries is found in Korea, whose offshore re- 

 sources have enormous potential. Considerable technical assistance 

 in which the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries participates under AID 

 funding has been provided to Korea in the fisheries field for a number 

 of years. Surveys have been made on salmon, oysters, and trout pro- 

 duction possibilities, and the current year's program includes $102,000 

 in grant funds for further market feasibility studies and technical 

 assistance. 



More important, the Korean Reconstruction Bank, with loan funds 

 provided by AID, will lend some $3 million this year to Korean fish- 

 ing cooperatives for the purchase of modern equipment, including 

 refrigerator ships, deep sea trawlers, and so forth. 



Nor has research and exploration been ignored. In Vietnam AID, 

 in cooperation with the U.N. development program and the FAO, 

 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, is help- 

 ing to explore unused offshore potentials off the mouth of the Mekong 

 River. The Vietnam fishing program also includes training of Viet- 

 namese in modern fishing technology, production and distribution 

 of fingerlings ; construction of fish ponds ; distribution of fishing boats 

 and gear on credit; construction of fish-landing facilities, and ice 

 plants and processing. A funding level of $320,000 is proposed for 

 fiscal year 1968 to continue the development of fisheries in Vietnam. 



The Agency intends to continue and, if possible, intensify this type 

 of assistance in the development of marine resources. There will, how- 

 ever, be one important difference. While in the past fisheries resources 

 have been looked upon as an important possible source of a country's 

 export earnings, with consequent concentration on the higher priced 

 types of fish, our emphasis in the future will be on the low-cost mass 

 production of fishery products for widespread consumption in the 

 develoj)ing nations themselves. 



Specifically, we aim to establish the technological and economic ca- 

 pacity for less developed countries to utilize their marine environments 

 in a manner best designed to eliminate their own nutritional deficits. 

 This goal will be sought by — 



(a) Assisting less developed nations to identify and expand the 

 dimensions of their local fishing industries, 



( h) Establishing the feasibility of cormnercial operations in the 

 application of available marine science teclmologies, 



