Like
its predecessor organizations, the BCF brought to NOAA a responsibility
for developing and managing programs to define and identify solutions
to the problems of commercial fisheries. It is important to note that
this was essentially a scientific responsibility designed to foster
conservation -- the wise use of marine resources. Specific management
and conservation responsibilities would not be given to what is now
the National Marine
Fisheries
Service until the mid-1970's. Thus what the Bureau brought to the
new Agency was largely a program of biological research designed to
provide an understanding of the nature, size, behavior, and, most
importantly, maximum sustainable yield of commercially-important fish
stocks and marine mammals off the coasts of the U.S. Complementing
this fundamental research program were Bureau activities designed
to assist industry, ensure consumer safety and support U.S. responsibilities
under international treaties and agreements. The Bureau conducted
resource assessment surveys; maintained a national program of fishery
statistics and market news; supported gear development and evaluation
studies as well as fishery development research designed to find alternative
uses for underutilized fish and shellfish populations; conducted a
voluntary grading and inspection program -- paid for by the processor;
and maintained a staff of marketing specialists and economists who
provided services to Federal and state Governments, industry, and
consumer organizations. All of these responsibilities and activities
came to NOAA and, in large part, are still part of the Agency's marine
fisheries programs.
The Bureau
of Commercial Fisheries also brought to the new Agency a number of
specialized facilities across the country. These included five regional
offices in Seattle, Washington; St. Petersburg, Florida; Gloucester,
Massachusettes; Juneau, Alaska; and Terminal Island, California; nearly
30 major laboratories and research centers and nearly 50 smaller installations
and offices such as statistics and market news offices. The new Agency's
fleet of Coast and Geodetic Survey ships was also significantly expanded
by the addition of twenty-five research vessels ranging from 40-footers
to the 214-foot MILLER FREEMAN. Many of these vessels are still
in operation today.
Marine
Sport Fishery Program [17]
The creation
of NOAA also involved another element of the Department of Interior's
fishery programs -- the marine game fish research program of the Bureau
of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. Authorized in 1959 by P.L. 86-359,
"A Study of Migratory Game Fish", this program represented much of
the Interior Department's marine and estuarine research. Like the
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, this program brought significant scientific
capability to the new Agency. The Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory, built
in 1960, represented a cadre of fishery biologists, conducting research
primarily focused on the dependence of certain marine species on the
near-shore and estuarine environments. At the time NOAA was created,
the Sandy Hook Laboratory had recently begun a research program on
the effect of waste disposal on the marine environment -- particularly
in the New York Bight, and related investigations of marine fish diseases
and their relationship to sewage and other waste effluents.
The Tiburon
Marine Laboratory was established in 1962 in several buildings at
the former naval base at Tiburon, California. In collaboration with
scientists from the Sandy Hook Laboratory, researchers at Tiburon
were early pioneers in the use of airborne infrared sensing devices
to measure sea surface temperature -- an oceanographic parameter relevant
to productivity and often used to locate fish stocks. Most of the
Tiburon Laboratory's activities were focused on research on the ecology
of shore and reef fish and studies of billfish stocks (e.g., marlin
and sailfish), including a major tagging program conducted in cooperation
with the Mexican Government and industry associations.
The third
facility which this consolidation brought to the new NOAA was the
Narragansett Marine Game Fish Laboratory in Rhode Island. Established
in 1966, this Laboratory conducted research on big game sharks, the
differentiation of races among game fish, experimental aquaculture,
and marine game fish statistics. At the time of Reorganization Plan
No. 4, scientists at the Narragansett facility were planning to begin
broad studies of the impact of environmental factors like currents,
temperature and plankton abundance on Atlantic coast game fish and
to establish the Laboratory as a center for estuarine research in
cold waters.
While
a permanent facility was still under construction at the time of the
transfer, scientists at the Eastern Gulf Marine Laboratory's temporary
facilities in Panama City, Florida were conducting research on estuarine
and onshore ecology in the South Atlantic and Gulf regions.
Office
of Sea Grant Programs [18]
In October
1966, the President signed P.L. 89-688, the National Sea Grant Colleges
and Programs Act to:
•
provide for increased utilization of marine resources, including animal
and vegetable life and mineral wealth in United States offshore waters,
including the Great Lakes;
•
develop skilled manpower, including engineers and technicians, and
the equipment necessary to use these untapped resources; and
•
provide greater economic opportunities -- including expanded commerce
and employment -- for the enjoyment and use of the Nation's marine
resources.
Responsibility
for the program was assigned to the National Science Foundation which
provided support for two types of Sea Grant activities. "Institutional
support" was provided to major institutions engaged in comprehensive
marine resource programs, including research, education, and advisory
services. By 1970, nine universities had received Sea Grant Institutional
support: Hawaii, Miami, Michigan, Oregon State, Rhode Island, Texas
A&M, Washington, Wisconsin, and the University of Southern California.
One of the most unique characteristics of the programs at these institutions
was their multidisciplinary, interdepartmental approach to solving
ocean and coastal resource problems. In addition, Sea Grant provided
"project support" for individual research efforts in marine resource
development at colleges and universities across the country.
Sea Grant
support was contingent upon matching funds from non-Federal sources
and this aspect of the program had, by 1970, helped entrain over 30
industries and a half dozen state Governments to participate in ocean
science and technology programs.
As the
name implies, the Sea Grant program was, in many ways, designed to
provide an ocean resource counterpart to the Land Grant College Program.
The most obvious analog was the establishment of marine extension
services similar to long-established agriculture extension services.
Also like the Land Grant Program, Sea Grant was actively involved
in the support of undergraduate and graduate education of engineers
and the training of hundreds of technicians at the two-year college
level.
At the
time of NOAA's creation, the Sea Grant program was undergoing a period
of rapid growth. Funding for the program during its first four years
had grown from $5 million in 1968 (although authorized in 1966, specific
funding for the program was not provided until 1968) to $9 million
in 1970 and the President's budget for fiscal year 1971 proposed a
budget of $13 million.
