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From a purely practical point of view, isn't the "community at large" worried about the "rising" sea levels? If we took the fresh water from the aquifers, then refilled them with sea water, presumably that would put a dent in the rising sea levels? I know, I know...just trying to be pragmatic.

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http://what-if.xkcd.com/33/ shows just how much the sea level would drop if all ships disappeared. That's probably more volume than you're likely to drink from an aquifer. There's a reason for the saying "a drop in the ocean".

Besides, once we had used that water, it would run back into the sea.

We wouldn't use the aquifers' water for drinking. (Or at least, drinking doesn't make a dent.) Agriculture and industry are the big users.

Sometime in the last few years, we reached a point where there are, by weight, more ships in the ocean than fish

Nice link. This made me sad :'(

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