V. MARINE ENVIRONMENT OBSERVATION AND PREDIC- AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 63 Mapping and Charting Activities in the Coastal Environment Major Research Projects Data Management Instrumentation .. Data Buoys 63 66 71 76 78 79 80 APPENDICES A. Federal Ocean Program, Fiscal Years 1974, 1975, and 1976 C. D. Status of the Federally Supported Fleet A Selection of Laws Enacted by the 93rd Congress in 83 89 97 ... 104 Chapter I INTRODUCTION: OCEAN MANAGEMENT AND THE LAW OF THE SEA National policies and programs, if they are to be meaningful, must be responsive to new national needs and changing priorities. Recently the United States and many other nations of the world have been confronted by the energy crisis and by the prospect of mounting food and mineral shortages. These events have given new impetus to the development of ocean resources. Yet, at the same time, there is a continuing concern about the impact of development on the quality of the environment. In this country, the need for accelerated ocean development and the necessity of preserving the environment are recognized in Congress and at the highest policy levels of the executive branch. This recognition is reflected in the rapid expansion of Federal Ocean Program activities directed to both objectives. Federal agency efforts directed to environmental preservation have now been greatly augmented by intensive new environmental assessment programs to lay the basis for marine fossil-fuel and mineral development. The beginning of commercial-scale operations for the mining of deep-ocean minerals, however, depends partly on the resolution of law of the sea issues. Such issues are also of great significance to the development and proper management of the living resources of the ocean. |