Steve Bittenbender

Contributing Editor

Steve Bittenbender works as a freelance journalist based in Louisville, Kentucky. Besides working for SeafoodSource.com as a contributing editor, Steve also works as an editor for Government Security News and as the Kentucky correspondent for the Reuters News Service. He also works as a sports writer for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal and The Associated Press. He has received awards from the Kentucky Press Association and the Louisville Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for his on-going and enterprise reporting work.

Published on
June 7, 2022

A survey commissioned by Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) found a strong majority of likely voters would support lawmakers expanding opportunities for offshore fish farms.

The survey, cundected by Echelon Insights and released on 6 June, was conducted in May 2022 and surveyed 1,020 people nationwide. According to the results, more than 60 percent of respondents said they would be more favorable toward their U.S. representative

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Published on
June 3, 2022

Two U.S. lawmakers pushing the federal government to take broader action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing are asking U.S. President Joe Biden to take action ahead of a key international conference.

U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-California) and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) sent the letter on 2 June, 2022, saying the country has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the fight against IUU ahead

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Published on
June 3, 2022

Officials at NOAA announced on Thursday 2 June 2022 that they expect an average sized “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico this summer.

That moniker is given to the area of waters in the Gulf of Mexico that have insufficient oxygen levels to support most marine life …

Photo courtesy

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Published on
May 25, 2022

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, 24 May, filed for an injunction against the U.S. state of Alaska to keep it from allowing all residents from taking part in a subsistence fishery on the Kuskokwim River.

The motions for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction were filed in a U.S. federal district court in Alaska. They’re the latest step in a lawsuit the federal government filed against the state,

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Published on
May 24, 2022

A study on shellfish farmers in the U.S. state of California, conducted by researchers at Oregon State University, found that farmers need additional resources and less red tape in order to overcome current and future environmental challenges.

Farmers from California’s Humboldt Bay, Point Reyes, and the Central Coast were interviewed for the study, which also involved researchers from San Diego State University.

Commercial shellfish

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Published on
May 17, 2022

The United States has certified 37 countries, 13 fisheries in seven other nations, and Hong Kong as having shrimp-harvesting practices that protect sea turtle populations, according to the U.S. State Department.

The State Department’s findings were published last week in the Federal Register and publicized in a press release issued Monday, 16 May, 2022. The determinations means wild-caught shrimp from those countries are eligible to be

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Published on
May 13, 2022

U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law that establishes an industry-led panel to help federal officials oversee grant awards for fisheries.

The American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and was signed by Biden on Thursday, 12 May, 2022. The law will create the American Fisheries Advisory Committee, a 22-member panel representing six regions across the country. Regional members will

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Published on
May 12, 2022

A pair of fishery status updates released by NOAA Fisheries on Thursday, 12 May, 2022, have revealed the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the U.S. fishing industry, which experienced double-digit percentage decreases in landings and value.

According to an update made to NOAA Fisheries' "Fisheries of the United States 2020" report, U.S. fishermen reported 8.4 billion pounds of landings for 2020, down 10.4 percent from

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Published on
May 11, 2022

A group of Democratic U.S. senators and representatives from West Coast states have written a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calling on his agency to spend more on seafood purchases from producers in their states.

The letter notes that California, Oregon, and Washington state produce more than USD 500 million (EUR 473.6 million) worth of seafood annually, more than an eighth of total domestic production in the U.S., and 25

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Published on
May 9, 2022

Another U.S. senator has come forward with a bill that would prohibit Russian seafood imports from entering the country.

On 4 May, 2022, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) filed S.4143 in the chamber. Dubbed the Protecting American Food Producers from Russia’s Market Distortions Act, the bill would keep fish and other products out of American ports until Russia meets certain conditions.

Currently, Russian seafood is already subject to a ban

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