1275 
THE STRATTON COMMISSION PLAN 
President Nixon has yet to make his response to the Commission’s plan for 
action. Meanwhile, the Congress has begun hearings on the proposals. It is difficult 
to predict what will eventually issue from ‘the congressional mill. Much will 
depend upon the tenor of the President’s recommendations. 
Dr. ‘Stratton and his colleagues, draw from government, private enterprise, and 
academic life, have exercised care to keep key members of the Congress informed. 
Wisely, the Commission had a four-member, bipartisan, team of congressmen as 
advisers—Senator Norris Cotton, Senator Warren Magnuson, Congressman Alton 
Lennon, and Congressman Charles Mosher. 
Briefly, the Commission recommends that research in basic marine science be 
expanded with a diversity of support; that capability be sought to occupy 
the bed and subsoil of the territorial sea to 2,000 feet, and to explore to 20,000 
feet by 1980; that undergraduate education in ocean engineering be broadened 
and support for graduate programs be expanded. At the same time the Commis- 
sion stressed the need for the country to have a few very strong national labora- 
tories for work in ocean science. 
For management of the coastal zone the Commission finds the present federal, 
state, local machinery inadequate, and favors a coastal management act. 
On pollution, it is recommended tht the Army Corps of Engineers be given 
power to refuse permission for the construction of new plants that would affect 
the purity of waters. Federal enforcement procedures should be reviewed. 
In the realm of fisheries the Commission recommends continuing federal sub- 
sidies for rehabilitating the U.S. domestic fisheries; encouraging conservation ; 
establishing priorities for the development of new species; developing better 
fishing technology ; expanding support for the production of fish protein concen- 
trate; and entering into stronger international arrangements to rationalize total 
sea catches. Shipbuilders may be horrified (while economists may be heartened) 
at the thought of opening the door to the use of foreign-built Shipping, which is 
generally cheaper, while allowing American industry to concentrate on other 
activities in which it excels, Such as packing and processing. 
Although it recommends support for advancing aquaculture, the Report does 
not give this the emphasis which the urgent needs of the world suggest, given 
what is known about Japanese, Chinese, Malay, and other Asian practices in 
intensive fish cultivation. 
As to marine minerals, “strong federal support” is urged for a program to 
advance the fundamental technology of undersea mining and recovery. 
Professional oceanographers, as well as the Navy and ocean engineers, are 
given emphatic support for a long-range program of research exploration, and 
advancement of technology. Activities visualized here include, among other 
things, expanding data networks; studying ocean systems and continental drift; 
major research efforts in marine biology; supporting studies of advanced deep 
ocean stations, man-in-the-sea projects, and stable off-shore platforms ; advancing 
knowledge and capability in deep ocean technology with new submersibles and 
instrumentation ; improving environmental prediction and studying the feasibility 
of modifying the global environment. 
The International Decade of Ocean Exploration, announced a year ago, should 
be helpful in furthering many of the activities mentioned, although specific agree- 
ments will be needed where coordinated endeavor is required. 
The recommendations have built solidly upon the foundations laid in 1959 
by the Committee of the National Academy of Sciences. They give impressive 
backing to the pleas of the scientific community for strong leadership in oceanic 
affairs. They afford a blueprint for ocean policy for the decade to come, as 
envisaged by the 1966 legislation. The responsibility now lies with the Executive 
and the Congress. 
DEFINITION OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF 
There are two areas in which the Commission’s recommendations may be 
questioned. One of these is the suggested redefinition of the continental shelf. 
The Commission proposes limiting national jurisdiction on the shelf to the 
200-meter isobath or 50 miles from shore, whichever gives the adjacent state 
the greater area. In the area between the 200- and 2,500-meter isobaths, or out 
to 100 miles from shore, the Commission would have an International Registry 
Authority give preferential treatment to the claims of adjacent state interests. 
This formula would deprive states of rights which they now enjoy under the 
1958 Geneva Convention on the continental shelf—primarily, the right to control 
