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B. Aquaculture: Com])ared with activities elsewhere in the world, 

 the practice of aquaculture in the United States is at a low level but is 

 showing signs of rapid growth. Realizing the potential of aquaculture 

 will require overcoming certain legal and institutional constraints as 

 well as advancing scientific and technical knowledge to permit produc- 

 tion at competitive costs. The Commission concluded that aquatic 

 culture offers a valuable supplement to harvesting of natural stocks 

 a;nd that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (BCF) 

 should be given an explicit mission to advance its practice. 



C. Drugs: The Commission also recognized the public interest in 

 evaluating the potential of marine life as a source of new and useful 

 medicinal materials and has recommended formation of a new program 

 within the National Institutes of Health to effect a methodical inven- 

 tory and evaluation. 



D. Mineral resources : 



1. Petroleum: For the foreseeable future, oil and gas will be the 

 most valuable minerals the Nation can obtain from the sea. Currently, 

 offshore sources account for about 16 percent of total world oil recovery 

 and are expected to provide a third of total world production within 

 10 years. The search for new reserves is stimulated by forecasts of 

 tripled consumption within 20 years and by political instability in 

 some oil-producing nations. 



Leasing and regulatory policies pertaining to U.S. Outer Continental 

 Shelf oil reserves must be geared to a rate of development which 

 reflects all aspects of the national interest. The Commission urges a 

 new assessment of the adequacy of the Nation's oil reserves to provide 

 a sound basis for shaping incentives to explore and test the potential 

 of new subsea fields. Further, in scheduling its lease sales the Federal 

 Government must give adequate consideration to industry's need to 

 plan its exploration and development programs in an orderly and 

 effective manner. 



2. Natural gas: With growing demand and with reserves declining 

 in reference to production, it is important to encourage exploration 

 and development of new sources of natural gas. The maximum price 

 which transmission companies can pay at the wellhead for gas is 

 regulated by the Federal Power Commission, and some adjustment 

 might be desirable to reflect adequately the greater cost of offshore 

 production. Similarly, the transmission industry's research and de- 

 velopment activities are influenced by the FPC's accounting regula- 

 tions, and it is important that such regulations be clear and consistent 

 with the transmission industry's legitimate needs. 



3. Hard minerals: The marine mining industry is in its infancy. 

 Excluding shorebased operations, sulphur wells, recovery of chemicals 

 from sea water, and dredging for sand, gravel, and oyster shells, total 

 worldwide production of hard minerals from the seabed is estimated 

 to total only $50 million currently. HoAvever, world demand for many 

 key minerals is expected to double by 1985 and triple by 2000, and 

 it is essential that the United States encourage an mcreasing rate of 

 discovery to insure an adequate and dependable supply. The long 

 leadtime which will be required to define and appraise minert'i re- 

 sources a.nd to develop the technology for their recovery requires 

 orderly action now to establish the basis for future mining activity; 

 The primary needs are for preinvestment geological surveys, develop^' 



