NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 
keting problem. That this last is not trivial is illus- 
trated by the availability of some wholesome fish 
foods in considerable quantities which are present- 
ly wasted due to local conventions or legal restric- 
tions. Finally and of much interest to both mar- 
ginal fish industries and underdeveloped nations 
bordering on the sea, a program devoted to in- 
creasing the yield of the sea itself is planned. In- 
troducing new species into at present unoccupied 
food niches in the marine community, modifying 
the environment to favor food fish over predators, 
placing fish shelters on areas with barren bottoms, 
and the addition of trace elements and nutrients 
to fertilize the oceans, at least locally, are all under 
study. 
To carry out this program, the Bureau of Com- 
mercial Fisheries estimates it requires 25 new ships 
in addition to the 20 now operating in oceanog- 
raphy and seven new laboratories. By the end of 
the decade, they should have a total of 41 ships, 
considering retirements, and 27 laboratories. In 
addition, they expect to have a medium-depth 
underwater research vehicle, a mesoscaphe, which 
they will share with the Bureau of Mines. Their 
proposed expenditures over the ten-year interval 
would run somewhat over $350 million. 
2. WORLD HEALTH 
The Atomic Energy Commission has monitored 
radioactive contamination produced by detona- 
tion of nuclear devices, wastes from reactors, 
and effects from nuclear-powered ships since 1944 
when the first materials were introduced into the 
environment. Since then the disposal of packaged 
wastes in both the Atlantic and Pacific by several 
nations has occurred in amounts sufficient to 
warrant continued close routine monitoring and 
the refinement of limits on maximum permissible 
concentration. Future hazards from accidents in- 
volving nuclear propulsion systems, both water- 
borne and missile-connected, are under study, as 
is the prediction of the consequences from nuclear 
detonations of all kinds. The research program 
concerns the appearance and distribution of radio- 
activity in marine organisms, in the sea itself, and 
in the sediments and rocks under the sea, through 
chemical as well as physical and biological proc- 
esses. It is of necessity mainly basic rather than 
applied and is expected to run about $68 million 
30 
463 
over the next ten years. The AEC plans to build 
no ships of its own but will continue to use those of 
other agencies. 
3. COOPERATIVE ASPECTS 
Although increasing competition and conflict 
are possible in man’s increasing use of the world 
ocean for its fish and to dispose of his wastes, the 
possibilities of cooperation for mutual benefit and 
the support of underdeveloped nations are also 
great. The past history of regulation of the whal- 
ing, halibut fishing and fur sealing industries 
augurs well for future accommodations among the 
competitive nations. The potentialities of surveys 
and studies in direct support of the fisheries of 
such underdeveloped nations as the Ivory Coast 
and Nigeria have only partially been realized. In 
addition to improving the material well-being of 
such nations, a cooperative program enlisting 
nationals of such countries as participants could 
serve to introduce them into at least one aspect of 
modern science and perhaps pave the way for fur- 
ther scientific progress in other fields. The Inter- 
national Indian Ocean and the Tropical Atlantic 
expeditions currently dominate the international 
oceanographic picture, although other interna- 
tional programs are in various stages of develop- 
ment. 
D. Management of Resources in 
Domestic Waters 
1. PROTECTION OF U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH 
(4 Percent 1963-1972 Effort; 
1 Percent Basic, 3 Percent Applied) 
Closely allied to the preceding goal is the direct 
protection of the health of the U.S. public from 
industrial or radioactive wastes and other forms 
of pollution. The AEC program, particularly that 
concerned with monitoring and studying the 
effects of reactor wastes carried to sea by rivers, 
makes a contribution to this goal, but it is the 
Public Health Service which carries the main effort. 
The Public Health Service oceanographic ac- 
tivities are an integral part of a continuing pro- 
gram of research on health hazards and of the 
environment taken as a whole. The oceanographic 
aspects center on water pollution surveys and 
shellfish sanitation and are carried out in close 
connection with state programs. During the next 
ten years, the Public Health Service will focus 
