In 1981, a very important development in the ocean sector was the decision of the Government of India to create the Department of Ocean Development, under the direct charge of the Prime Minister of India.

The main objectives of this Department are to promote speedy development of the ocean sector, to provide funds for co-ordination and co-operation among the various existing institutions and as and when required, open new institutions and support the existing ones. Soon after its establishment, the Department was given the mandate of organising the first expedition to Antarctica. This programme generated a lot of interest and admiration in the country. In 1982, the Department prepared an "ocean policy statement" which was discussed and approved in both Houses of Parliament.

Expeditions to Antarctica

In 1981, when the idea of launching to Antarctica was being considered, there was a lot of skepticism and uncertainty about the venture. However, the indomitable spirit of Indian scientists prevailed upon the policy makers and the possibility of sending the first scientific expedition to Antarctica, which combined science with adventure, became a reality. The expedition successfully landed on 12 January, 1982 in Antarctica, Dr. S.Z. Qasim as leader of the expedition.

As of date, 17 scientific expeditions to Antarctica have been launched, one every year. The first Indian permanent station was established in the year 1983 on the Antarctic ice shelf, and was named DAKSHIN GANGOTRI. As is true of any material left on the ice, the station slowly sank down. By the time its warranty period for safe living was over, a new station in the rocky hill ranges, known as Schirmacher Ranges about, 100 km further south, was established and named MAITRI.

Maitri is an international station, manned round the year. It is capable of accommodating about 25 persons comfortably, and is well furnished with living space, laboratories and modern amenities, which offer excellent infrastructure for carrying out front-ranking research in several areas of science. Communication between India and Maitri is well established through satellite, HF linkages, telephone, telex and fax systems. In 1983, India was selected a Consultative Member of the Antarctic Treaty followed by its election as a Member of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) in 1984.

Scientific work in the areas of atmospheric sciences and meteorology, geology and geophysics, biology and oceanography, and environmental physiology and medicines are some of the interesting subjects in which India is conducting its various programmes. Polar research which was not known in the country until the first expedition landed, has gained considerable interest and today there are nearly 25 institutions working on the data, material and samples collected from Antarctica. A new institution called the Centre for Antarctic Studies has been established in Goa.

Deep-Sea Exploration of Nodules

The first successful cruise for polymetallic nodules was undertaken from December 1980 to January 1981 in the Indian Ocean. The cruises was undertaken on the Indian built Research Vessel Gaveshani of the National Institute of Oceanography, (NIO). The first nodule sample was lifted from a depth of about 5 km. This was followed by numerous samples of nodules from the Indian Ocean. The success of this cruise, and the others which soon followed, generated a great deal of interest within the scientific community of India. The Government of India directed the newly established Department of Ocean Development to act as a nodal agency in the country for policy, co-ordination, promotion of research and to give a new thrust to the overall development in the ocean sector. The Department identified the programme of the exploration of polymetallic nodules as one of the major thrust areas. India was the first among the developing countries to launch a massive effort to the oceanographic programme dedicated to manganese nodule exploration. Based on the result of the exploration carried out by the NIO, India became a "Pioneer Investor" in the field of deep sea mining. A prime area of 4 million sq. km was initially demarcated in the Central Indian Ocean in which extensive work had to be conducted to identify the most promising mine site. These efforts led to the demarcation of a total application area of 300,000sq. km. which was divided into two regions of 150,000 sq. km of each of equal estimated commercial values. The Indian claim for a mine site in the Central Indian Ocean was thus filed with the Preparatory Commission of the International Seabed Authority (PREPCOM) in January 1984. After prolonged negotiations among the first group of pioneer investors (India, France, Japan and the then USSR) and with the PREPCOM, the Indian application was registered by the PREPCOM and an area of 150,000 sq. km was allotted to India. Thus, India became the first country in the world to have the registration of a mine site. This event was regarded as an important landmark in the history of Indian Oceanography. Both Houses of Parliament gave their admiration to the scientists for this achievement.

Acquisition of Additional Research Vessels

In March 1983, the Department of ocean Development acquired a most sophisticated and highly advanced oceanographic research vessel "Sagar Kanya". Designed and built in the then Federal Republic of Germany, it has full capabilities to work in the field of physical and chemical oceanography, meteorology, marine biology, marine geophysics and marine geology. The ship has been fitted with a Multi-Sea Beam System, along with underwater TV camera, to study the sea bottom and obtain photographs. The ship has so far completed several hundred cruises in the Indian Ocean to study different aspects of meteorology, geology, geophysics, polymetallic nodules survey etc.

Another multipurpose fisheries and oceanographic research vessel, Sagar Sampada was constructed at the Dannebrog Shipyard Ltd., Denmark. It was delivered to the Department of Ocean Development on 6^th November, 1984. Marine Fisheries Resources Research is the principal function of this vessel. It is well equipped for locating fish resources, assessing their extent of distribution and quantifying fish stocks in the water column and on the sea bottom through an effective use of multiplicity of fishing gears as bottom trawl, pelagic and midwater trawls and long-line. These are aided by modern underwater acoustics and electronic data processing systems.

Oceanographic research which forms an integral part of marine fisheries research is the second area of operation on this vessel. Sagar Sampada has so far completed more than 150 cruises in the EEZ of India and outside on the studies of phytoplankton and zooplankton productivity in relation to fisheries production. It has recently sailed for the Antarctica water for krill fishing and estimation of economic prospects of krill resources.

Manpower Development

Since the days of the International Indian Ocean Expedition, the primary concern has been to build properly trained manpower in all the disciplines of oceanography. With this objective in view, highly qualified staff was recruited from the Universities, IITs and Fishery Institutions to shoulder the responsibilities of the various projects in the ocean sector. Thus, the programme of manpower development has been a continuous process of the Department of Ocean Development and, since its inception, 73 projects have been funded by the Department. Of these, 48 have been completed. There are 25 projects in operation including the one on the development of potential drugs from the ocean. The national project on the development of drugs from the ocean was initiated in November 1990 with the participation of 10 laboratories, and the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow as the apex institution. About 140 marine organisms of potential value were identified from various places along the east and west coasts. Their specimens are preserved in the herbarium at the CDRI and NIO. Of these, 50 marine organisms have shown promising results with anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, hypotensive, diuretic and toxic activities. This project is multi-disciplinary in nature and provided a lot of scope for developing manpower.

New Capabilities

Based on the experience of more than three decades, the country has now embarked on new programmes such as "oceanography from the space" and "launching of the data buoys" along the Indian coastline which has a direct link with the satellites to transmit data on various oceanographic features including weather to a central place.

It is hoped that such capability building will minimise the cost of ship operation for routine data collection on the state of the sea.

OCEAN POLICY STATEMENT

1. The oceans are known to be our last frontiers. Our long coast and the sense of adventure of our ancients fostered a great maritime tradition. The Indian Ocean which washes our shores provides opportunities which need to be utilised. For success in ocean development, the entire nation should be permeated by the spirit of enterprise and the desire to explore the frontiers of knowledge. Our experience in other fields of scientific endeavour will help our efforts in ocean development. What is necessary is a policy and structure to facilitate a dynamic thrust keeping in view developments in other parts of the world.
2. The adoption, by an overwhelming majority of nations of the Convention of UN Conference on the Law of the Seas has established a new international order for the oceans. This extends the economic jurisdiction of coastal states to an area ranging from 200 to 350 miles from the coastline. According to this regime, nearly 2 million square kilometers of area, or very nearly two thirds of the land mass has come under India's national jurisdiction. In this area, the exclusive right to utilise living and non-living resources vests with the nation. Besides, India has been recognised as a "Pioneer Investor" in ocean mining. This gives India the exclusive right to operate in an area of upto 150 thousand square kilometres in the high seas for the recovery and processing of polymetallic nodules.
3. For ages, the sea has enabled our people to sail to near and distant lands and has been a source of livelihood to larger numbers of people. Even now Indian public and private enterprises do use ocean resources. The country is producing significant quantities of fish and hydrocarbons from the sea and much scientific work has been done in collecting basic knowledge and information about the sea and sea bed and in surveying, charting and exploiting it. Progress has also been made in construction and development of offshore structures.
4. The vastness, complexity and uncertainty of the ocean environment calls for a co-ordinated, centralised and highly sophisticated development response. This should be based on adequate knowledge of marine space (sea-bed, water and air columns included) as a fundamental prerequisite to the control, management and utilisation of the rich and varied natural resources available in the sea. In addition to basic knowledge to determine the potentialities inherent in the Indian sea-space, we have to develop appropriate technologies to harness these resources. A supporting infrastructure has to be built. Effective systems of management and control of the entire set up are also necessary.
5. We need to map living resources, prepare an inventory of commercially exploitable fauna and to map and assess the availability of minerals from the deep sea. The supporting infrastructure and incentives required are research vessels of different types, manpower, well-laid out programmes of resource exploitation, advanced technology and everything necessary to promote the growth of ocean technology. In the management sector, the high seas and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) upto 320 kilometres have to be looked into for the exploitation of the wealth occurring therein.
6. The main thrust should be on the optimal utilisation of living resources like fish and sea weeds, exploitation of non-living resources such as hydrocarbons and heavy placer deposits, harness of renewable resource of ocean energy from waves, temperature differences in the water column, tidal heights and salinity gradients and the collection and processing of polymetallic nodules from the deep sea.
7. Marine development is linked with scientific and technological achievements in other areas. Hence while we develop basic marine science and technology, i.e. technology for marine environment, our technological advances have to be geared to the utilisation and preservation of the marine environment. The extension of national frontiers by an area of 2 million square kilometres of ocean space and the consequent access to new sources of energy, minerals and food, requires great strides in ocean engineering, specially in tasks related to structures, materials, instrumentation, submersibles and systems of propulsion of ships. The exploitation of natural food resources such as fish and sea weeds, and the generation of additional food resources by cultivation, also need scientific methods of aquaculture and mariculture. To survey and predict the ocean environment, the main tasks necessary are seafloor mapping, charting, geodesy, ocean dynamics, currents, waves, cyclones, marine fauna, chemistry and physics of the oceans and seabed mineral mapping, delineation and assessment. Research in all these areas must examine the various processes and their origins so as to have a fundamental understanding, ensuring predictive capabilities. Marine science and technology has also to look beyond the current state-of-the-art to achieve major technological break-throughs in the future.
8. Besides research and development in basic sciences, we should survey the deeper part of the ocean. Similarly in the deep sea, detailed survey and sampling in the regions of EEZ and the adjacent ocean will be necessary to locate and evaluate the rich and economically viable deposits of polymetallic nodules, heavy metals, fossil placers and phosphorite deposits. The gathering of data from surveys should be co-ordinated and a cost-effective system of integrated surveys established.
9. Much more needs to be done for the development of indigenous technology for the exploitation of fish from deeper waters. This also means setting up of infrastructure facilities and services to operate large-sized fishing vessels.
10. An important component of the development programme should be the acquisition of technology. To be self-reliant, such technologies would have to be largely developed, tested and operated indigenously. Technologies relating to instrumentation, diving systems, position fixing and position maintenance, materials development, oceanic data collecting devices, anti-erosion capabilities, submersibles, energy and energy-saving devices are priority items. Several new technologies will have to be commercialised and made cost-effective.
11. Infrastructure support forms an essential prerequisite for ocean development. The variegated infrastructure already available in the country will have to be appropriately augmented, and more particularly in basic supporting facilities like safety and rescue at sea, navigational chains, communication net-works, development of appropriate maps and charts etc. Infrastructural support for providing a complete and reliable information system through a net-work of data centres on marine resources, processing and marketing systems, advanced technologies and financial assistance would also be necessary. This requires a broadening and strengthening of available infrastructural facilities. Provisions of adequate ports and harbours, ship-building and ship-repair facilities will be needed in addition to adequate skilled manpower in various sectors of development.
12. Surveillance and conservation of the marine environment and its resources call for an integrated legal frame-work and its concomitant enforcement. Several laws have already been promulgated regarding the maritime zone, fisheries etc. The Coast Guard Organisation looks after the enforcement aspects of several of these legislative measures. The co-ordinating mechanisms of the overall structure of legislation will have to be suitably strengthened under the aegis of the Department of Ocean Development.
13. In the light of this, we must have a data base to co-ordinate efforts made by different agencies. This is all the more necessary because of the rapid growth of information in ocean science nd technology. A centralised data system will be set up by the Department of Ocean Development with a proper mechanism for collection, collation and dissemination of information acquired both indigenously and from foreign sources.
14. The creation of a self-reliant technological base puts a heavy demand on fully trained personnel. The training of skilled manpower is to be adequately planned. Young scientists, technologists and engineers will be encouraged to participate in the programme of ocean development and steps will be taken to induce Indian scientists from within the country and abroad to participate in it.
15. Existing agencies will have to be appropriately strengthened to meet the demands of this growing challenge. The Department of Ocean Development will function in conjunction with other concerned agencies as a focal point to promote institutional capability in areas where significant work is lacking. The complex programme that ocean development entails will require well-designed management and institutional extension of the Department of Ocean Development with sufficient powers vis-à-vis other agencies to help proper and speedy ocean development, which enables India to be in the forefront of the International effort. This would also mean close co-operation with both developing and developed countries in a spirit of understanding of the concept that the oceans are a common heritage of humankind.