occurs at the surface, but at the depths below, on the sea bottom, and below 

 that. Curtailing the opportunities to work at sea first hand is a major re- 

 versal of a long-sustained and highly fruitful policy by the leading spon- 

 sors of marine research, the Office of Naval Research and the National 

 Science Foundation. Since historically the pace of this research has not 

 kept up with man's use of the ocean, this cutback makes the gap grow 

 larger. The increased and very welcome interest of atmospheric scientists 

 in probing the effects of the sea on weather and climate add measurably to 

 the demand for research. Thus it is by no means paradoxical that at the 

 very time we can praise the current accomplishments of oceanographic 

 work, we must express our concern for its future. 



NACOA did not make its discussion of ocean research part of the Re- 

 port. The issue of scattering rather than gathering the forces in oceanic 

 and atmospheric matters enlarged to become central to the entire Report 

 and details of ocean research are more technical than those of the examples 

 we decided to use. But the principle is clear: Underinvestment in the cap- 

 ital structure needed for marine and atmospheric research of the next 

 decade could mean losing ground which would'he costly to regain in later 

 years. 



We also have made comment on the need for national planning for 

 the U.S. fisheries, and for the necessary conditions of economic regulation 

 and enforcement in addition to conservation and biological management. 

 And we have called for an enlarged emphasis on small-scale weather fore- 

 casting and on better understanding of public response for improved dis- 

 semination of warning. 



In our view, and for marine affairs especially, the theme of appropriate 

 and undivided sponsorship needs application across the full range of the 

 Nation's natural resources. We therefore urge greater centralization and 

 more effective leadership of the Federal activities in natural resource 

 management. 



