This paper outlines the structure of the institutions involved in scientific and technological development in France. It points to new trends in French marine policy, and gives details of the country's offshore petroleum technology and nodule mining.

One of the main issues contributing to the US-instigated hiatus in negotiations on the Draft Convention for the Law of the Sea has been the question of production controls for manganese nodule mining. As the text stands, production controls cover both the total amount of metals produced from...