One reason it's taken so long is that people can't see that the oceans are filling up, said Sandra Whitehouse, a marine biologist and senior adviser at the Ocean Conservancy, an environmental group.

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The oceans can't keep up with demand for fish, which has been climbing 3.6% a year (twice the growth in population) since the 1960s.

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Satellite-based systems, such as service offered by Row 44, offer faster speeds, more bandwidth and global coverage over oceans, but aren't as developed yet.

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The officials, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Environment John Turner and State Department Legal Counsel William Taft IV, didn't know what to say.

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At a point in human history when natural predations should be less of a reason to flee one's home ground--increasingly we have the means to overcome droughts or infestations, and global warming (if true) isn't yet a reason to uproot--millions are heading to crowded cities or across deserts or oceans to reach more promising lands.

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"You can't be a seafood business and not sell salmon and shrimp, " says Tim Fitzgerald, a scientist in the oceans program at the Environmental Defense Fund.

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