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.
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Catfish sales in the United States rose by 5 percent in 2019. That’s according to figures released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture ...
Photo courtesy of C5
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NOAA Fisheries announced on Wednesday, 5 February, that changes to the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery Management Plan will take effect next month.
The main purpose of the amendment is to change the amount of red snapper bycatch for shrimpers. In 2005, limits were enacted after a stock assessment determined that shrimp fishing was a primary factor in affecting the red snapper’s viability.
“The Gulf red snapper stock is no longer
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Preliminary records from NOAA Fisheries indicate that 2019 ranks as the worst year for U.S. shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico, although a trade organization has tempered its comments about what that may mean …
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A bill that would allow Virginia’s menhaden fishery to return to compliance took its first step in the state legislature on Wednesday, 29 January ...
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NaturalShrimp, Inc. has announced that a renovation project to upgrade its pilot production facility will be completed by the second quarter of 2020, allowing for full production to begin by the third quarter of the year. Located in Lacoste, Texas, U.S.A. …
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Maryland officials are stepping up their efforts to help crab houses in the state get the workers they need to remain viable.
Earlier this week, Governor Larry Hogan sent a letter to Acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia asking them to lift the cap on H-2B visas the country issues.
The H-2B visa program allows companies in non-agricultural industries to fill temporary positions with immigrant labor.
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After being grounded since last March, the Hawaii swordfish fishery reported its first landings of the season on Friday, 17 January.
Pacific Business News reported that “The Lady Luck” arrived at Pier 38 Friday morning with about 30,000 tons of swordfish. Within hours, the catch hit the auction floor.
Hawaii is a major provider of swordfish for domestic consumers, accounting for 55 percent of the American harvest. That translates
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The Southern Shrimp Alliance is requesting the U.S. Department of Labor to revise policies the trade group claims allow certain seafood imports to avoid being associated with child and forced labor practices.
SSA Executive Director John Williams sent the letter to the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs on Monday 13 January. For more than a decade, the bureau has been responsible for producing a list of products that are
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A bipartisan group from Congress is looking to cap the time federal officials have to make a determination on fishery disaster requests.
On Tuesday, 7 January, U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-California) and Steven Palazzo (R-Mississippi) introduced the “Fishery Failures: Urgently Needed Disaster Declarations Act,” or Fishery FUNDD Act.
The bill would give the U.S. Commerce Secretary 120 days from either the receipt of the
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Three conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday, 8 January, against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, claiming it has not done enough to protect green sea turtle habitats across the country from a variety of threats.
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the Turtle Island Restoration Network, and Sea Turtle Oversight Protection claim NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined
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