Chapter 6 Industrial Technology 
The technology of several domestic industries 
with major interest in the oceans or close to shore 
is discussed. These include the following resource 
industries: 
—Living 
Fishing 
Aquaculture 
—Non-Living 
Oil and gas 
Ocean mining 
Chemical extraction 
Desalination 
Power generation 
Recreation, not treated separately here, is men- 
tioned only for the sake of completeness. It is 
discussed more thoroughly in the Marine Re- 
sources Panel Report. Transportation and harbor 
development are discussed in Chapter 5 of this 
report. 
Each industry subsection includes pertinent 
summaries and recommendations, with major find- 
ings and recommendations given at the front of 
the panel report. Each industry’s technology is 
treated from the viewpoint of present status and 
trends, future needs, and recommendations, with 
emphasis on recommendations that can be imple- 
mented by the Federal Government. 
There are tremendous differences in the indus- 
tries’ present and anticipated rates of growth. 
Further, widespread differences exist among the 
various segments of an industry, as in fishing. 
Figure 1 depicts the present technological 
status of ocean industries in two broad categor- 
ies—existing and future industries. Assignment of 
an industry to a given category has been somewhat 
arbitrary. 
When development of an ocean industry is 
proceeding well, as in oil and gas activities on the 
‘continental shelf, only minor adjustments in Fed- 
eral policies and programs are indicated. 
When developments are in early stages of 
potential large-scale growth, as in desalination, the 
Federal Government’s role can be decisive in 
maintaining the expected rate of growth. In the 
case of underwater recreation, the roles of State 
and local governments also are important (to 
insure access and availability of suitable areas and 
to zone for optimum multiple use of the resource). 
Figure 1 
PRESENT TECHNOLOGICAL STATUS OF 
VARIOUS DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES 
Type 
Examples 
Existing Industries 
Mature, healthy, 
and growing 
Early stages of 
growth 
Mature but static 
or declining 
Future Industries 
Nearterm promising 
(where nearterm 
is less than 15 
years) 
Long range 
Oil and gas on conti- 
nental shelf 
Chemical extraction 
from sea water 
Mining of sand, gravel, 
sulfur 
Shrimp and tuna fishing 
Surface marine recrea- 
tion 
Desalination 
Bulk and container 
transportation systems 
and associated termi- 
nals 
Aquaculture, fresh 
water and estuarine 
Underwater recreation 
Most segments of 
fishing 
Shipbuilding 
Merchant shipping 
Mining of placer min- 
erals 
Oil and gas beyond the 
continental shelf 
Sub-bottom mining 
(excluding sulphur) 
Aquaculture, open 
ocean 
Deep water mining 
Power generation from 
waves, currents, tides, 
and thermal differ- 
ences 
VI-135 
