results accurate enough for management. The cost 

 for salaries, supplies and travel to carry on such a 

 comprehensive program would be substantial, even 

 though the program be conducted according to a 

 carefully designed sampling system, but without 

 better data much of our management effort is 

 literally blindfolded. As in the case of the commer- 

 cial fishery a thorough overhaul and expansion of 

 the Federal and State statistical programs is long 

 overdue. 



VI. OTHER USES OF THE SEA'S LIVING RE- 

 SOURCES 



A. Sea Plants 



Although attention has been focused on the 

 potential contribution of the sea to food supplies, 

 and particularly to protein sources, the living 

 resources of the sea can contribute in other 

 significant ways to man's welfare. 



Sea plants have been used for centuries as cattle 

 fodder, soil conditioning materials, and even di- 

 rectly for human food. The Japanese consume 

 about 20 varieties of seaweed, some directly and 

 some in processed form. Seaweed has also served 

 as a source of potash and iodine, both in Europe 

 and the United States. A liquidized form currently 

 is available to gardeners as a potent organic 

 fertilizer. 



Seaweed has pervaded American life in a more 

 subtle way. Both the red and brown algae of the 

 sea are sources of important hydrocolloids known 

 as carageenans and algins. These colloids, chem- 

 ically sugar polymers, are the basis for many 

 convenience foods. Instant milk mixes depend on 

 them, as do most dietary foods. They are widely 

 used in baby food products, instant cake mixes, 

 gelatin-type desserts, jams, jellies, and candies. 

 They are important ingredients in most tooth- 

 pastes, and contribute to the smooth texture of 

 pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Among the indus- 

 trial uses of marine colloids are ink and auto- 

 mobile tire production. Algin production on the 

 American West Coast depends on the availability 

 of giant kelp. Carageenan production on the East 

 Coast depends on a supply of red seaweeds. The 

 U.S. industry has established seaweed harvesting 

 and collecting points around the world to obtain a 

 sufficient quantity of suitable algae. 



Research conducted under the auspices of the 

 University of California Institute of Marine Re- 



sources and the California Institute of Technology, 

 in conjunction with California industry and gov- 

 ernment, have enabled scientists to restore some 

 areas of the California kelp beds and to begin their 

 expansion. Much remains to be done, however, in 

 the artificial propagation of commercially impor- 

 tant red algae. Some Sea Grant Projects are 

 underway and development of seaweed aquacul- 

 ture is an obvious future step. 



Preliminary research has shown that seaweeds 

 can be important sources for other human needs. 

 One brown alga apparently contains significant 

 amounts of fats which could be converted to 

 vegetable oils. A green seaweed is so high in 

 vegetable protein that it has the potential of 

 producing tons per acre. A broad-spectrum germi- 

 cide has been found in still another marine alga. 



The panel believes that research into sea plant 

 use has been neglected, in comparison with re- 

 search into other resources, and recoitmiends that 

 the effort be increased substantially and that it 

 include projects to determine the possibilities for 

 aquaculture of useful varieties. 



B. Pharmaceuticals 



Activity in marine pharamacognosy and phar- 

 macology is now at a level at which the groups 

 concerned with the health sciences must carefully 

 evaluate the sea as a source of new and useful 

 medicinal raw materials. Using the definition of a 

 bioactive substance as any substance, other than 

 food, intended to affect the structure or function 

 of the body of man or other animals, the interest 

 is focused on pharmacologically active substances 

 obtained from the plants and animals of the sea. 



The medical history of people bordering the 

 seas is replete with evidence that products with 

 pharmaceutical applications are available from 

 plants and animals inhabiting the sea. However, 

 the present use of these products is small in 

 comparison with those obtained from land orga- 

 nisms and their medically active constituents. With 

 some exceptions, most of the marine drugs are 

 used by native people in rather crude dosage 

 forms, somewhat as the majority of crude botan- 

 ical and zoological drugs and their extractives were 

 in the United States 40 years ago. Other more 

 refined principles, i.e., the biotoxins, appear to be 

 too toxic for human use. Marine bioactive sub- 

 stances as a source of new commercial pharma- 



VII-37 



