Port-au-Prince.– When soaring food prices sparked deadly riots across Haiti, many expected that people along the cactus-studded northern coast would do what they traditionally do in times of crisis: take to the seas and head for the United States. So far it hasn't happened.

In the early 1990s, political violence sent tens of thousands of Haitians toward Florida aboard rickety boats, forcing President Clinton to send in troops to stabilize the country.

Now the price of rice, beans, fruit and condensed milk has gone up 50 percent in the past year, while the cost of pasta has doubled. But the U.S. Coast Guard says its cutters have interdicted 972 Haitian migrants over the past seven months, about the same number as a year earlier. That's a fraction of the 31,000 intercepted in 1992 after a military coup.

That said, analysts warn that unless Preval tackles the rising food costs, more Haitians will chance the dangerous trip by sea.

"It will probably rise markedly, unless the food subsidies can stabilize prices in Haiti," said Henry Carey, a professor at Georgia State University.

There are no signs of increased boat-building on Tortue Island, a traditional migrant-smuggling center 10 miles across cobalt waters from Baie des Moustiques.

Many residents considering leaving are deterred by stories of migrants drowning, suffocating or being eaten by sharks. Two weeks ago, 24 Haitians died when their boat capsized off the Bahamas.