money. The National Science Foundation’s Sea 
Grant College Program, in fact, has reviewed many 
more applications for applied aquaculture research 
than it could fund. The panel recommends that 
the Sea Grant College Program be given greater 
funding to enable sponsorship of a larger percent- 
age of qualified applications. 
Work in estuarine or ocean areas encounters 
another serious obstacle—ownership or rights to 
exclusive use of the water column or seabed. 
Exclusive rights usually are essential to any aqua- 
culture project, but often difficult to obtain. The 
problem is acute within waters under State juris- 
diction and will in time become so in waters under 
U.S. Government control. Few provisions or prece- 
dents assign exclusive rights to the seabed or water 
column for such uses, and many established 
interests, such as fishing, recreation, and conserva- 
tion, regard aquaculture as a conflicting use of 
given areas. The panel identified several cases 
where investments in aquaculture were thwarted 
for either legal or political reasons although 
conflicts of use were minimal. In these cases the 
degree of exclusivity required was not great and 
the area involved was infinitesimal compared to 
total water resources available. 
It is recommended that the State and Federal 
governments encourage the use of marine waters 
for aquaculture projects when they do not inter- 
fere with more important uses. Seasteading (see 
Chapter 3) is a means to encourage such projects 
in U.S. territorial waters by making provisions for 
granting exclusive use rights. 
Inadequate technology also is a deterrent to 
many types of aquaculture. Mechanical, physical, 
chemical, or biological methods of containment, 
of excluding predators, and of harvesting have not 
been developed to the point of being economically 
acceptable in many proposed aquaculture systems. 
Many of these problems will be solved in conjunc- 
tion with the basic and applied ecological studies, 
and others will be solved by industry through 
engineering development programs when basic 
research indicates potential and identifies specific 
needs. 
Pollution threatens or already has destroyed 
many attractive sites for aquaculture as well as 
natural spawning grounds. However, possibly some 
present-day forms of chemical and thermal pollu- 
tion may actually enhance certain programs. In- 
creased knowledge of the effects of various pollu- 
v-44 
tants on the ecology of nearshore areas and 
stronger efforts to control the harmful factors are 
urgently needed. Vigorous Government support 
through studies and provision of controls is clearly 
necessary. Water is often polluted because the cost 
of abatement is greater than the readily measured 
economic value of alternative uses; as aquaculture 
increases in importance, it may provide much of 
the positive economic impact needed to counter 
pollution. 
Some forms of aquaculture have existed for 
many years, but relative to the potential, aquacul- 
ture is a new and exciting field. In the United 
States the effort is widely scattered, not only in 
States with seacoasts but throughout the Nation. 
At present there is no strong central effort for 
aquaculture either within the industry or within 
the U.S. Government. The creation of such a focus 
is essential to improve communication among 
governments at all levels, the academic commu- 
nity, and industry. It will assist guidance of 
research efforts and documentation and dissemina- 
tion of technology, and prevent unnecessary dupli- 
cation of effort. 
The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (BCF) 
would be the appropriate focus in the US. 
Government. BCF already performs some research 
and provides funds to States for extension pro- 
grams under the Commercial Fisheries Research 
and Development Act of 1964. However, BCF 
never has been in a position to fund a strong 
aquaculture program because its primary responsi- 
bility was for commercial fishing which, indeed, 
requires much attention. 
Therefore, the panel recommends that the 
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries be given more 
specific responsibility for investigating aquaculture 
programs; this must be backed with sufficient 
funds as recommended earlier. Pilot projects to 
establish research facilities and develop basic tech- 
niques appear warranted, and BCF well might 
contract such projects to industry or universities. 
Without increased support of this type, the com- 
mercial potential for aquaculture may not be 
realized as soon as this panel considers possible 
and desirable. 
Vil. SEA TRANSPORTATION 
A. Present Status 
The primary components of the U.S. sea 
transportation industry are the merchant marine 
