force accountability for results. Important leadtime has therefore already- 

 been lost and we are less able to deal with the problems of the '70s than 

 we should be. 



These problems include some of the most pressing and urgent of our times. 

 Our domestic energy crisis cannot be resolved without, among other efforts, 

 greatly expediting the development of our offshore oil and gas deposits. 

 The dependence of many nations for food from the sea has encouraged 

 multinational competition in fishing which is putting dangerous pressure on 

 the world's fisheries. And not too far off there is the possibility of interna- 

 tional competition for deep seabed minerals which could be unsettling. 



These exploitive activities, engaged in by ourselves and others, increas- 

 ingly threaten the marine and atmospheric environment. Since individuals 

 generally cannot own portions of the sea and air, only government can reg- 

 late and coordinate the uses to which they are put in the interests of mu- 

 tual compatibility and for the protection of the environment. The United 

 States does not have the institutional capability to interact at this level on 

 the necessary scale today. 



The strength of our national economy is harder to sustain without 

 healthy and producti\e marine resource development. In the face of an 

 adverse trade balance, the near $1 billion annual payments deficit due to 

 fish imports merits greater attention. The rapidly rising price of oil and gas 

 hurts the pocketbooks of consumers directly. Our great dependence on im- 

 ports weakens the dollar abroad, contributing to inflation at home. The de- 

 cline of the U.S. merchant marine and our growing dependence on foreign 

 bottoms for shipping, long deplored from the viewpoint of national security, 

 deserves also to be looked at from the point of view of the impact on our 

 place in the world economy. 



Since the demand for resources is independent of its origin, there is no 

 question but that national policies, legislation, and public and private in- 

 vestment in marine and land resources — and their management — should be 

 seen in a total, balanced perspective. What this means is that marine and 

 land resources belong together in a single department, as has been proposed, 

 and that an appropriate top level policy and planning activity taking the 

 broadest possible view be established to provide a unified overall framework 

 for national resource development. 



At the level of program and policy application, which involves the ex- 

 plicit choice of development strategies, and at the level of regulatory ad- 

 ministration, marine and terrestrial resources development move into very 

 different contexts. Ocean resources development differs markedly from 

 resource development in the continental interior in questions of ownership 

 and law, environmental hazards, personal and environmental safety, and 

 the requisite science and technology. 



