Marine resources: the economics of US ocean policy
Abstract
The sea will produce minerals for the practical use of mankind only when the cost and demand factors of land sources are such that the sea becomes an economically feasible source. Oil and gas are the only mineral resources to have value at the present. Future energy sources from small-scale tidal power plants or ocean thermal gradients and fresh water sources by desalination are possible. There is presently no technology for the ocean mining of compacted minerals and no interest in extracting the low concentrations of dissolved minerals, although there is some activity in mining unconsolidated minerals. Living resources show signs of overexploitation by world fishing industries and have become a subject of international concern. The Fishery Conservation and Management Act was designed to provide a more rational and economic pattern of resource development. 13 references.
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