77. LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES: LAS 



Established in 1945, LAS coordinates activities of the Arab 

 states in political, economic, financial, and health matters. It is 

 currently concerned with developing programs relating to marine pol- 

 lution control and the development of related training programs. It 

 lent its support to IMCO and UNDP in the establishment of the Arab 

 Maritime Transport Academy. 



In 1964 it organized the Arab Educational, Cultural, and Scientific 

 Organization (ALECSO). One of ALECSO's major programs is the envi- 

 ronmental study and protection of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. 

 Plans for the programs were proposed in 1974 and formalized in 1976 

 with the signing of the Jidda Declaration committing the member 

 countries to ensure the proper scientific development and protection 

 of their marine environment. 



78. MEDITERRANEAN AND BLACK SEA HYDROGRAPHIC COMMISSION: MBSHC 



An independent regional hydrographic commission formed of rep- 

 resentatives from hydrographic offices or related services from 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It cooperates 

 with and operates within the framework of the International Hydro- 

 graphic Organization (IHO). 



79. MIXED COMMISSION FOR BLACK SEA FISHERIES: MCBSF 



Organized in 1960, MCBSF develops programs for regulating fishing 

 to conserve resources, develops techniques of commercial fishing, 

 coordinates scientific research projects, and exchanges data. Mem- 

 bers are Bulgaria, Romania, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 



80. MIXED COMMISSION FOR COOPERATION IN MARINE FISHING: MCCMF 

 Organized in 1973, MCCMF plans scientific and technical coopera- 

 tion and mutual assistance in the development of fishing in the open 

 sea, exchanges data, and plans conferences and meetings. Members are 

 Bulgaria, German Democratic Republic, Poland, Romania, and Union of 

 Soviet Socialist Republics. 



81. NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION: NATO 



Established in 1949, primarily as a military alliance to provide 

 mutual protection for its member governments, NATO was authorized, by 

 a 1956 decision, to expand its nonmilitary cooperative activities and 

 Include the furtherance of scientific progress through support of co- 

 operative and collaborative efforts of scientists. 



Organizations within NATO of interest to marine scientists are the 

 Sub-Committee on Oceanographic Research; the Advisory Group for Aero- 

 space Research and Development (AGARD), which sponsors many research 

 projects, including those in air/sea interaction and subsurface com- 

 munications; the Supreme Allied Command, Atlantic (SACLANT), which 

 Coordinates the oceanographic activities of NATO, directs the Mili- 

 tary Oceanography Synoptic Surveys (MILOC) , which take place in the 

 eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and supervises the Anti- 

 submarine Warfare Research Center (SACLANTEN), which performs research 

 in acoustics and instrumentation; and the Committee on the Challenges 

 of Modern Society (CCMS), which encourages member countries to under- 

 take studies of environmental problems, such as oil pollution of the 

 seas and coastal pollution in general, and to disseminate the result- 

 ant data throughout the world community. In response to the world's 

 concern over the environment, NATO established in 1971 an Advisory 

 Panel on Earth Sciences. In September and October 1979 it conducted 

 a program of Marine Remote Sensing in the North Sea (MARSEN). 



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