Committee Serial No. 90-19. Reviews progress made by Federal departments in planning and implementing marine sciences programs in areas of food supply, energy, national security and marine safety.

Marine resources and their exploitation, recovery and economic networks they generate are here from the perspective now inevitable growing environmental constraints, policy management and technical innovation. A historical perspective shows that Ocean and its adjacent seas at all times, allowed coastal communities to adapt to a very volatile environment through many technological changes. The recent development of marine biotechnology , the discovery of a great pharmacopoeia especially in reef environments , the development of marine renewables , are examples which show that man can develop through these new technologies property and services of the ocean. But this development resources under pressure of global change requires not only taking into account technical, but also social and political. This is the price that the analysis of maritime activities will assess the sustainability and development of various economic sectors and coastal populations, faced with the objectives of a "blue growth" associated with a return to the "good state "of the marine environment.