453 



THE FUTURE 



It is clear that Virginia lias many valuable marine resources. It is also clear 

 that these resources are extremely useful and thiit they will be more widely used. 

 As population and industry, both of which are attracted strongly to the marine 

 environment, grow, competition and degradation will follow and the need for 

 more careful management and use of the marine environment and its resources, 

 will increase. 



In the future, A'irginia must be able to 1) resolve conflicting us<' problems: 2> 

 prevent degradation and destruction of the marine environment; 3) develop the 

 ability to secure more food from the sea by controlled cropping of naturally 

 produced or "wild" populations and by mariculture or "marine farming" — con- 

 trolled production of marine organisms — first, for molluscs and perhaps algae, 

 and later for crustaceans and finfish ; 4) increase sportfishing yields ; 5) use con- 

 verted seawater to drink, process and cool; 6) increase other recreational areas 

 and uses and restore the quality of the marine environment; 7) wisely set aside 

 those areas of marsh, beach and water which must be preserved for all time ; and 

 8) prevent or reduce destruction of life and property. 



These demands w^ill call for greater understanding of the processes and phe- 

 nomena of the ocean and its tributaries and for development of greater technolog- 

 ical and engineering capahility. These aims will be accomplished if Virginia is 

 able to continue to provide the capabilities of equipment, personnel and shore 

 facilities which will permit improvement of research and engineering and if 

 efforts are concentrated primarily on the phenomena and problems of the coastal 

 and estuarine waters. 



These objectives are clearly within tlie guidelines established by the General 

 Assembly and Virginia and by the President's Advisory Committee and the Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences Committee on Oceanography. Existing programs and 

 most of those planned for Virginia will contribute markedly to the further social 

 and economic development of the Commonwealth as well as to increasing funda- 

 mental knowledge of the sea. 



Because of these factors of population and industrial growth in Virginia and 

 of the need for more food, water and minerals from the sea, its shores and floor 

 and for wise placement of factory, farm, home and city, it is clear that further 

 development of oceanography, marine technology and engineering by the Com- 

 monwealth and by the federal government and industry is warranted and neces- 

 sary. It will be vital to the future for the General Assembly to continue to provide 

 support and growth funds for the State's marine science program as it has so 

 wisely in the past. Important also will be increases in the investments of industry, 

 academic institutions and the federal government in oceanography. For the im- 

 mediate future, severe reductions in federal funds for oceanography appear 

 imminent due to competition with Vietnam, foreign aid, poverty programs and 

 other activities of the national government. However, as these pressures ease, the 

 growth of oceanography and its service to man will undoubtedly rocket because 

 development of ocean resources is vital to the future of the Nation and especially 

 to Virginia. 



James River Hydraulic Model Multi-Pukpose Marine Research Tool for 

 Science, Government and Industry, Published by Virginia Institute of 

 Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia 



Inside a hangar-like shed down at Vicksburg, Mississippi is a imique research 

 tool valuable to science, government, and industry. This is the James River Hy- 

 draulic Model — a miniature version of Virginia's most important tidal river sys- 

 tem. The model was built by Virginia in cooperation with the Norfolk District 

 Engineers' Ofiice and the Waterways Experiment Station of the U.S. Army 

 Corps of Engineers. It is oi>erated jointly by the Virginia Institute of Marine 

 Science at Gloucester Point and the Corps. 



Investigators use the model to study the river's "natural" processes imder con- 

 trolled conditions. Tides, currents, freshwater flow, saltwater intrusion, and 

 sediment deposition as they occur in the tidal James are duplicated in it. They 

 also run tests to determine how these processes will be affected by river and harbor 



