ABSTRACT
Important as they have been, these processes are only one aspect of the changing role of the oceans – the influence of other factors has also been pivotal. These include improved technical and structural organisation of the existing patterns of ocean usage, the design and implementation of new forms of resource exploitation, and the intensifying social and political perception of the fundamental importance of the oceans in the evolution of the global ecosystem and human economic and social systems (Couper 1978). These factors may be better understood by considering both the evolution of exploitation patterns within the ocean environment and the ways by which science has similarly evolved in response to these patterns of use and their attendant management structures. In this context ‘use’ is intended in a broad sense, referring to the many forms that the human presence in the marine environment may take, and to the exploitation of its components, dynamics and processes. In short, two processes are occurring, side by side – the evolution of ocean in reality and the evolution of man’s perceptions towards this ocean reality.
