Chapter Il: The Nation’s Stake in the Ocean 
From its beginning, the United States has had an 
intimate involvement with the ocean. The earliest 
settlements were coastal communities that depended 
on the ocean as a link to the old world. As a young 
Nation, America made an early mark in international 
affairs during the Clipper Era when U.S. vessels 
dominated world shipping. 
The country has come to rely on the ocean not 
only for transportation, but for food and energy re- 
sources and as a major factor in our national de- 
fense. This reliance has increased in recent years, in 
part because of growing shortages of land-based 
resources. 
Today the ocean is a mecca for recreation. 
Coastal areas frequently are crowded during the 
summer as a more affluent and leisure-oriented 
society turns to the water. The Nation’s major indus- 
trial centers and urban population concentrations 
also are centered in the coastal region. 
Greater emphasis on ocean-related activities is 
evident in the search for solutions to socioeconomic 
problems. Shortages of domestic energy resources 
have increased our dependence on imports of foreign 
oil and natural gas. Development of oil and gas re- 
serves in the Outer Continenta! Shelf is a top na- 
tional priority, in part to offset our dependence on 
foreign sources. Projected mineral shortages have 
precipitated plans to use deep sea-floor minerals 
such as manganese nodules. There is increased in- 
terest in fish as a source of low-fat protein as Amer- 
icans consume increasing amounts of fish and fish 
products. , 
Along with increased use of the ocean in recent 
years has come an appreciation of the need to pro- 
tect coastal and estuarine waters. Ocean dumping is 
Ocean 
The development of ocean resources depends on 
a sound base of science and technology and on rea- 
sonably accurate assessments of the extent and loca- 
tion of the resourses Those factors wore reviewed 
in a number of reports published since the mid- 
1960s. In 1964 the National Academy of Sciences 
issued a report. Economic Benefits from Oceano- 
graphic Research, which attempted to correlate in- 
creases in the economic value of ocean activity with 
now regulated, and efforts to clean up the Nation’s 
waters are beginning to have an effect: some coastal 
waters have been restored to a healthy condition. 
However, the ocean is still a major recipient of 
wastes from industrial societies. The long-term ef- 
fects of petroleum and chemicals in the ocean are 
still largely unknown. 
Thousands of people derive their livelihood from 
working on or near the ocean. The ocean also 
touches the lives of millions who buy goods trans- 
ported on the ocean, visit the ocean for recreation, 
and consume products developed from ocean re- 
sources. 
The ocean has an intrinsic value in that the 
climates of the world are largely determined by 
oceanic and atmospheric currents that transport 
heat. Waters of the ocean also are instrumental 
in controlling gas exchange to maintain the balance 
of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 
While the potential for ocean resource develop- 
ment is great, some past predictions about this poten- 
tial have been exaggerated. Projections in the 1960s 
about feeding the world from the sea, extracting vast 
amounts of mineral wealth, and other solutions 
sought from the new field of oceanography were 
over-dramatized. 
The Nation’s stake in the ocean is increasing in 
economic terms, and it is likely to continue to ex- 
pand. The central issue is whether the governmental 
apparatus and the private sector as they now exist 
are sufficient for the amount, extent, and intensity of 
present and prospective uses of the ocean. A parallel 
issue also exists: what is the proper role of the 
Federal Government vis-a-vis the States and private 
sector in meeting the ocean needs of the Nation? 
Resources 
II-1 
investments in scientific research. Using a complex 
formula, the Academy estimated that a direct return 
on a 20-year investment in oceanographic research 
would be more than three times the same investment 
yielding a return at 10 percent compound interest. 
Later in 1964, the National Security Industrial 
Association (NSIA) reviewed the need for ocean 
resource development in terms of the U.S. trade bal- 
