34 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 10 



We are now aoDroachine the problem of 

 water quality. The 1965 Act creating the 

 Federal Water Pollution Control Administra- 

 tion is the direct result of a general recogni- 

 tion that connecting waters of streams and 

 their estuarine mouths where they reach the 

 sea cannot be cleaned up and kept clean by 

 the states and local governments. 



Dirty water is all -pervasive in its effects 

 on habitat and human uses of estuarine re- 

 sources, and the pollution control effort is a 

 great step forward, as was the navigation 

 need which resulted in legislation. As I have 

 indicated, estuaries are a resource complex 

 even further in need of governmental atten- 

 tion, 



I believe that Interior is the appropriate 

 agency for broad responsibility for the qual- 

 ity of the environment, as has been attested 

 by the transfer this year of the Water Pollu- 

 tion Control Administration to it, for the rea- 

 son that Interior is becoming generally rec- 

 ognized as the lead agency with responsibil- 

 ity for the use and management of natural re- 

 sources in the Nation as a whole. Other 

 agencies have, and should continue to have, 

 certain responsibilities for natural resources, 

 but Interior is across-the-board in its re- 

 sponsibilities. 



I do not wish to leave you with the impres- 

 sion that the Corps of Engineers is indiffer- 

 ent to values beyond its immediate charge. 

 Many of its achievements stand as models of 

 conservation. Indeed, if it were not for many 

 of these multi-purpose beneficial works we 

 would be beset with more floods, we would be 

 deficient in power -production capability, and 

 the arteries of commerce would be restricted. 



What I do wish to impart is this: every 

 passing day sees our resources becoming 

 more vulnerable to the pressures of man and 

 machine. To me, and to countless others who 

 feel they have a responsibility to nature and, 

 in turn, to men of this generation and others 

 to come, progress cannot be counted solely 

 in terms of dollars, a building lot dredged 

 from the bottom of an estuary, or something 

 chopped off here and added there. 



We cannot alter the face of the earth with 

 impunity. We must, if we are to endure and 

 enjoy our resources to the utmost, strike a 

 balance with nature. If we do not, we 

 inevitably will degenerate into a has-been 

 nation with an overdrawn account in the bank 

 of beauty and quality. 



MANUAL DISTRESS SIGNALING FOR SMALL BOATS 



A boatman is never without a daylight distress signal as long as he 

 can use his arms. A small craft operator can indicate to passing ves- 

 sels or searching aircraft that he is in distress by outstretching his arms 

 to each side slowly raising and lowering them. The use of this nrianual 

 distress signal by all boatmen is encouraged by the U. S. Coast Guard 

 and was emphasized in a recent press release issued by that agency. 



This distinctive signal will not be easily confused with the friendly 

 wave so often used by boatmen as a courteous gesture, the Coast Guard 

 states. The visibility of the signal can be improved by holding in each 

 hand a handkerchief, towel, shirt, or other eye catcher. 



Other practical signals for small craft include continuous sounding 

 of the fog horn, flares, smoke signals making orange-colored smoke, and 

 the spoken word "Mayday" over radiotelephone. 



