300 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. II, October, 1948 
The Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigation 
On July 1, 1948, the sum of $1,000,000 be¬ 
came available to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, through Congressional appropriation. 
This sum will implement H.R. 859 (known 
widely as the Farrington Fisheries Program) 
which provides " . . for the exploration, investi¬ 
gation, development and maintenance of the 
fishing resources; and development of the high 
seas fishing industry of the territories and island 
possessions of the United States in the tropical 
and subtropical Pacific Ocean and intervening 
seas.” The bill authorizes the U. S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service to secure laboratories, vessels, 
and personnel to investigate the biologic, tech¬ 
nologic, and economic problems concerning the 
tunas and tuna-like fishes. Oscar E. Sette, for¬ 
mer Chief, South Pacific Investigations of the 
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service with headquar¬ 
ters at Stanford University, has been appointed 
director of this vast program. A new laboratory 
and administrative headquarters will be con¬ 
structed on the campus of the University of 
Hawaii. Berthing facilities and warehouse space 
have been secured at Pearl Harbor. Although 
plans have not been completely formulated at 
this writing, an extensive oceanographic in¬ 
vestigation will parallel the fishing operations. 
Additional personnel in the fields of ichthyology 
and fisheries biology have been added to the 
University staff to provide undergraduate and 
graduate curriculums designed to train ichthy¬ 
ologists, fisheries biologists, and oceanographers 
for work of this type in the Pacific. Close co¬ 
operation between the staff of the Fish and 
Wildlife Service laboratory and the staff of the 
University will be maintained to provide the 
best theoretical and applied training for stu¬ 
dents at all academic levels.—R.W.H. 
Western Regional Conference for UNESCO 
The regional conference for UNESCO 
(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cul¬ 
tural Organization) held at San Francisco, May 
13-15, 1948, was attended by nearly 3,000 dele¬ 
gates from eight western states, Hawaii, and 
Alaska. The delegates represented many dif¬ 
ferent types of organizations. Some, probably a 
small minority, were delegates from states or 
territories and represented the local chapters of 
national scientific organizations by request of 
the national officers. 
At the opening plenary session the aim of 
UNESCO was stated to be the prevention of 
war. A great many scientists in attendance were 
startled by the abruptness and simplicity of this 
statement. Many delegates, acquainted with 
some of the work already done by UNESCO in 
aiding the restoration of libraries, exchange of 
technical and cultural literature, and the like, 
had conceived UNESCO to be a specialized seg¬ 
ment in the United Nations pattern but were 
not prepared for the phraseology of wide, popu¬ 
lar appeal, nor for the subsequent extremely 
general discussions, dealing with various aspects 
of internationalism in relation to people, which 
were lacking in any working approach to the 
business of particular fields of endeavor on the 
international level. 
While it was for many scientists a stimulating 
experience to attend such a meeting as citizens, 
it may well be queried to what extent represen¬ 
tation from various specialized scientific or¬ 
ganizations will be sustained unless some pre¬ 
pared opportunity is afforded for conferences 
on problems of international scientific liaison 
and collaboration.—C.K.W. 
