452 
“How are turbidity currents generated? Are 
they the primary means of transporting terres- 
trial material to deep water? At what speeds do 
they flow?... 
“What is the flux of sediment from land to deep 
ocean?... 
“What is the nature of the stress exerted by 
waves and currents on the bottom?... 
“What world-wide changes in sea level have 
occurred in the past? What changes are in prog- 
ress now, or are to be expected in the near future?” 
In general, the same questions challenge oceano- 
graphic scientists today at just the time that tech- 
nology and engineering have put the answers to 
many of them tantalizingly near his reach. The 
assessment of the National Academy of Sciences 
four years ago was “that both the quantity and 
quality of basic research in the marine sciences 
can and should be increased substantially during 
the years ahead.” The challenge and promise are 
even greater now. 
B. The Fishing Industry 
The remaining groups to be discussed, such as 
the fishing industry, are primarily consumers of 
oceanographic information, though some of them, 
like the government, may be producers or at least 
patrons of it also. The questions they ask of o- 
ceanography are highly practical and the motive 
is largely economic. To see their oceanographic 
needs, we must therefore view them in an econom- 
ic setting. 
Commercial fishing has been an important in- 
dustry on this continent for nearly three and a 
half centuries. Today it supplies over a million 
tons of food each year for our population, which 
consumes an average of nearly 11 pounds a year 
per person. More than half a million people de- 
pend on it for their livelihood. 
1962 was both favorable and unfavorable to 
the American fishing industry. On the favorable 
side, the year was one of the most prosperous 
in American fishing history. Catches of salmon 
and shrimp were sharply up from 1961, and the 
tuna industry, although short of its all-time high, 
had another successful year. Even the New Eng- 
land groundfish industry, beset by competition 
from foreign imports, did reasonably well. Only 
the oyster industry fared badly, but research al- 
ready well advanced is expected to brighten its 
future also. 
19 
NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 
The most unfavorable aspect is the increasing 
competition from the fisheries of other nations. 
This competition takes two forms: cheaper im- 
ports from countries with labor costs lower than 
ours, and the invasion of traditionally American 
and Canadian fishing grounds by foreign fleets, 
most notably those of the USSR and Japan. 
Technological problems arise from the ad- 
vanced age of many of our fishing vessels, lag- 
ging progress in seafood processing, and from the 
adverse effects on some seafood stocks of pol- 
lution and engineering projects as well as from 
environmental changes due to natural causes. 
Technological progress is being made, however, 
in some quarters. Among these are the use of 
power blocks and synthetic fiber nets in the sal- 
mon and tuna fisheries and the widespread adop- 
tion of automatic peeling and shucking machines 
in the shrimp and crab industry. The industry 
has also recognized the advantage of voluntary 
quality inspection of many fishery products. 
There is a strong feeling that one of the most 
promising avenues for the future is further de- 
velopment of fish protein concentrate. This ma- 
terial, a flour-like substance, can be made cheaply 
from fish wastes and from species either not being 
caught at present or now being discarded as trash. 
It is stable, easily transported and stored, and 
has a very high protein content. These character- 
istics make it particularly promising for use by 
countries with poor distribution and transporta- 
tion systems, among which are many with diets 
seriously protein deficient. 
A necessary condition for successful compe- 
tition with foreign fleets is superior knowledge 
of the sea and its inhabitants. With some important 
exceptions, the industry is largely dependent on 
the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for this 
knowledge. Since many areas of potential interest 
are remote from U.S. shores, international co- 
operation is frequently essential. The two large- 
scale international enterprises in which this coun- 
try is now participating, the International Indian 
Ocean Expedition and the International Coopera- 
tive Investigations of the Tropical Atlantic, re- 
present important steps toward a better under- 
standing of these two areas of potential interest 
to American fishermen. 
The industry feels that knowledge is not enough, 
however. It needs more capable ocean-going 
fishing vessels, and more modern and efficient 
techniques for locating and capturing the fish. 
