Message to the Congress Transmitting Annual Report of the Federal Ocean Program.

To the Congress of the United States:

Pursuant to P.L. 89-454, I am herewith transmitting the 1975 annual report on the Federal Ocean Program. The report represents a summary of national efforts to comprehend, conserve and use the sea, and lists significant activities of the Federal Government related to the marine sciences in 1974 and early 1975. During this period, the United States:

--intensified programs to appraise energy resources of the oceans and assess the environmental impact of their development;

--expanded geological and geophysical research programs which broaden our knowledge of the earth's evolutionary process and provide information of practical importance;

--continued development of the capability to mine deep seabed minerals without damage to the environment;

--enhanced opportunities for ocean-related recreational activities;

--strengthened our ability to forecast marine environmental conditions;and;

--began formal negotiations with other nations in the UN Law of the Sea Conference during a two-month session in Caracas, Venezuela.

The report which I am transmitting emphasizes these achievements and provides additional information on the Federal Ocean Program budget for fiscal years 1974-1976, as well as on the National Sea Grant Program and the status of the federally supported marine research fleet.

Subsequent to the period covered by this report, there have been several developments of importance to Federal Ocean Policy including:

--the completion of three additional substantive negotiating sessions of the UN Law of the Sea Conference;

--the enactment of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act in April 1976 which, effective March 1, 1977, will extend our fisheries jurisdiction to 200 miles;

--the leasing of Outer Continental Shelf areas for oil and gas exploitation; and

--a budgetary increase for the Federal Ocean Program from $872.5 million in FY 1976 to $956.6 million in FY 1977.

As indicated in the report, the Federal Ocean Program was designed to advance and facilitate this nation's expanding uses of the sea and its resources. As a major oceans user the United States will continue to pursue forward-looking programs, aware of the need to safeguard the quality of the marine environment and conscious of the need to cooperate with other nations on programs and policies that will advance our interests and those of the world community.

GERALD R. FORD

The White House,

January 19, 1977.