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.


Author Archive

Published on
July 27, 2021

In the moments on Monday, 26 July, after U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman officially announced the filing of a bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act, statements supporting the legislation started to flow out from the press offices of seafood and fishing interest groups and environmental non-governmental organizations.

Conservation groups lauded H.R. 4690, sponsored by the California Democrat and U.S. Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii). In particular, those

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Published on
July 27, 2021

The total area used in the top three U.S. states for catfish production shrank 3 percent last year, according to a report released in July by the U.S. Department of Agriculture ... 

Photo courtesy of Alabama A&M and Auburn Cooperative

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Published on
July 26, 2021

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) announced on Monday 26 July, 2021, that he introduced a reauthorization bill for the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law that oversees fishery management in the United States.

In a statement, Huffman said it’s time for a new reauthorization of the landmark legislation because of changes within the industry and the challenges it faces.

“We know that the MSA has worked well, but new approaches

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Published on
July 22, 2021

The Vineyard Wind project, an 800-megawatt offshore wind energy installation slated to be built off the coast of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, is now facing a federal lawsuit.

The suit is challenging the permit for the Vineyard Wind offshore energy. It was filed by a solar energy generation company, but the potential impact on the commercial fishing industry is a cornerstone of the suit’s argument against the project.

The

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Published on
July 9, 2021

Commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico said they were shocked to see their share of the red grouper quota cut by 600,000 pounds.

A statement released Tuesday, 29, June by the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance said the reallocation to recreational fishermen means a loss of about USD 3 million (EUR 2.5 million), a significant loss for “fishing families.” They also fear it could lead to overfishing of the

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Published on
July 6, 2021

A nonprofit conservation group has given notice to NOAA Fisheries that it plans to file a lawsuit after the federal agency did not respond in a timely manner to a petition to list black teatfish sea cucumbers as either an endangered or threatened species.

In May 2020, The Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition the U.S. government. Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the agency had 12 months to make a determination.

The letter,

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Published on
July 5, 2021

Shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico reported landings of about 6.6 million pounds in May. That total was the lowest for the month since 2014 ... 

Photo courtesy of Leigh

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Published on
July 5, 2021

A budget deal reached between state lawmakers and California Governor Gavin Newsom includes funding that will complete the state's buyout of drift gillnets from commercial fishing operators who catch swordfish. 

The USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.1 million) will help fishermen purchase safer gear that doesn't threaten other marine wildlife.

California is the last state in the U.S. where such nets, which are typically cast at night, are used. The

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Published on
June 28, 2021

An agreement to prevent unregulated fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean took effect on Friday, 25 June …

Photo courtesy of nesrin

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Published on
June 25, 2021

The University of Missouri and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have teamed up to conduct a study that may help officials better control the spread of carp species across the country …

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Geological

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