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
September 21, 2020

Several Gulf Coast fishermen’s organizations reached out to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission within the past week as the federal agency wrapped up receiving comments from the public on possible updates to regulations pertaining to “Made in the U.S.A.” labeling ... 

Photo courtesy of Andriy

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Published on
September 17, 2020

Environmental conservation group Oceana announced on Monday, 14 September, that it contributed USD 1 million (EUR 845,500) to California’s efforts to end the drift gillnet fishery in the U.S. state.

Oceana’s contribution matches state funding and goes toward a buyout program for fishermen who have been using the controversial gear to catch swordfish. The buyout program was part of a state law passed two years ago that calls for their

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Published on
August 27, 2020

Shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico reported harvesting 7.8 million pounds of shrimp for the month of July ... 

Photo courtesy of Dale

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Published on
August 25, 2020

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused only 37 seafood entry lines in July, continuing a trend where federal officials were rejecting a historically low number of products.

According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, that amount is by far a record low for the month. It’s only 21.3 percent of this historical average the alliance has tracked since 2002. It’s also significantly lower than the previous record low of 91 entry

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Published on
August 20, 2020

A crowdsourcing platform, HeroX, launched an initiative on Thursday, 20 August on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find innovative solutions to keep blue-green algae from wreaking havoc on catfish farms.

According to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, catfish exposed to the algae can develop an off-taste. If found, farmers will often delay harvesting their stock for months in an attempt to get a better-tasting fish to

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Published on
August 11, 2020

La Coste, Texas-based aquaculture company NaturalShrimp, Inc. announced on Tuesday, 11 August, that it has entered into a letter of intent to buy Alder Aqua, Ltd., an Iowa-based aquaculture company that produced barramundi under the VeroBlue brand.

NaturalShrimp will pay USD 10 million (EUR 8.5 million) for Alder Aqua’s assets, which include tanks, rolling stock, inventory, permits, customer lists, and contracts. Alder Aqua’s

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Published on
August 6, 2020

A task force looking at bolstering the competitiveness of the U.S. seafood industry submitted its recommendations to do just that to the U.S. Trade Representatives on Wednesday, 5 August, NOAA announced in a release on Thursday, 6 August.

A list or summary was not released. Kate Goggin, a NOAA Fisheries spokesperson, told SeafoodSource the recommendations are “an internal, deliberative document.”

“The final plan will be made

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Published on
August 3, 2020

Catfish production in the United States will be down slightly this year compared to last year ... 

Photo courtesy of C5

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Published on
July 30, 2020

The ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee took aim Wednesday 29 July at Trump Administration officials on a couple matters important to the fishing industry.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) used a committee hearing on …

Photos courtesy of Wikimedia

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Published on
July 29, 2020

A bipartisan bill that would eliminate the use of drift gillnets to catch swordfish and thresher sharks in Pacific Ocean waters within five years passed the U.S. Senate last week.

Senate Bill 906 passed by voice vote in the chamber on Thursday, 23 July. It now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives, which has until the end of the year to consider the legislation.

“We are now one step closer to removing these nets from our

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