645 
NOAA’s only lead role is in traditional science and information 
gathering; it plays a rather negligible role in other areas of concern 
in the oceans. 
At the time when NOAA was formed the emphasis was still on 
the need for scientific knowledge. Now, with pressures for the ex- 
ploitation of living and nonliving resources mounting, the need for 
regulation has become apparent. For example, Congress has passed 
and the President has signed the Fisheries and Conservation Act of 
1976, but no agency in the Federal Government has comprehensive 
responsibilities past 3 miles. This means that we have currently no 
agency equipped to regulate competing uses of the oceans or to 
manage the developmental efforts aimed at maximizing ocean yields. 
The result has been to place regulatory and management functions 
in several different agencies, fragmenting policy considerations and 
Federal efforts to bring about a comprehensive ocean policy. Hence, 
such is the basis of proposals for a new organization with a well- 
defined mission and with strong enforcement capability, aimed at op- 
timizing yield of ocean resources and careful management of the 
ocean environment. 
Even if reorganization of marine affairs now dispersed among several 
Government departments and agencies were to take place, some 
marine responsibilities would still remain outside the newly created 
agency (or department). The Department of Defense (Navy), State 
Department, the National Science Foundation and possibly the marine- 
related activities of EPA would still remain independent, implying 
the need for interagency coordination along the lines of a Marine 
Council somewhat similar to the Council on Marine Resources and 
Engineering Developments of the 1960’s. 
Aside from the few departments and agencies mentioned above, 
other ocean-related activities would need to be collected into a single 
operating unit with research, management, and enforcement authority. 
The combination of research, regulation, and resource management 
in One agency or department would also facilitate cooperation between 
Government and private enterprise. The new agency (or department) 
would be in a better position to respond to industry needs. 
Reorganization of civilian activities can take different forms. There 
are a number of options, such as: 
(a) Leaving NOAA within the Commerce Department, but adding 
to it parts of other departments and agencies with specific ocean- 
related responsibilities. 
(b) Creation of an independent NOAA agency along the lines of 
NASA. Parts of other departments and agencies with specific ocean- 
related responsibilities would be added. 
(c) A Department of Environment and Oceans as recently called 
for by Senator Ernest F. Hollings, Chairman of the Senate National 
Ocean Policy Study. Such a department would be broader in scope 
than ocean agencies listed before, and this approach would have the 
advantage of authority, flexibility, and the public visibility of a 
Cabinet-level department. 
One area in which we can learn from the Russians is their un- 
derstanding of the concept of maritime power. To the Soviets each 
element of maritime power must interact with the other, and no 
one element can be allowed to develop without regard for the impact 
