Brian Hagenbuch

Contributing Editor reporting from Seattle, USA

Brian Hagenbuch spent a decade in South America, where he was a journalist for Reuters and Time Out in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. He now lives in Seattle and works as a freelance writer and translator, as well as a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay. 


Author Archive

Published on
October 21, 2019

Raley’s Supermarkets has introduced a multi-pronged marketing approach for Bristol Bay sockeye salmon that uses in-store branding, video, and social media to promote Alaska sockeye salmon.

According to the West Sacramento, California-based grocer, which operates 129 stores in the U.S. west, the program has bumped sales of sockeye from Bristol Bay up 35 percent from 2018.

The campaign, a partnership with the Bristol Bay Regional Development

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Published on
October 16, 2019

Seattle, Washington-based Alaskan Leader Seafoods had never entered a competition when it won two Alaska Symphony of Seafood awards in the 2017

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Published on
October 1, 2019

Opponents of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska applauded U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who last week stood behind language critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed open-pit copper, gold, and molybdenum mine that would sit near critical headwaters that feed the Bristol Bay fishery.

These new criticisms appeared in an appropriations bill from the Senate

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Published on
September 2, 2019

Restaurants around Washington D.C. will feature wild sockeye salmon from Bristol Bay, Alaska as part of Bristol Bay Salmon Week, which will take place from 16 to 20 September. 

The event, organized by the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA), will put fillets from the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery front and center on menus at 28 restaurants across the nation’s capital. 

“Bristol Bay

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Published on
August 23, 2019

Grocery store promotions for sockeye salmon from Bristol Bay, Alaska got a boost this season as the fishery posted a total catch of over 43 million fish, its second-largest harvest on record ...

Image courtesy of the Bristol Bay Regional Development

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Published on
August 20, 2019

The world’s largest sockeye fishery, Bristol Bay, Alaska, clocked its second-largest harvest ever this season, with a haul of more than 43 million fish. The big catch, combined with a robust base price – most of the fishery’s major processors have posted an initial ex-vessel buying price at USD 1.35 (EUR 1.20) per pound – should make 2019 among the most lucrative years in the fishery’s history. This season’s

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Published on
August 9, 2019

Fishing all but wrapped up in Bristol Bay, Alaska this week, capping what could shake out to be the most lucrative season in 126 years of recorded history in the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. 

When the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) published its final daily run summary of the season on 31 July, the total salmon harvest sat at just over 43 million fish on a run of 56.3 million. Sockeye salmon constituted over 42

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Published on
July 31, 2019

Opponents to the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska spoke out Wednesday, 31 July, a day after the EPA decided to reverse Obama-era protections in the region, opening the door for a gold and copper mine slated for development at the headwaters of the world’s biggest sockeye salmon fishery. 

Local tribes, commercial and sport fishermen, biologists, and other activists, who have fought the mine for a decade, recently banded

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Published on
May 21, 2019

The Alaska Superior Court dismissed on Friday, 17 May, a lawsuit against the Bristol Bay Regional Development Association (BBRSDA) that claimed the organization was misusing tax dollars to oppose Pebble Mine, a proposed open-pit copper and gold mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run.

Six Bristol Bay fishermen, all members of BBRSDA, filed the lawsuit on 1 April, 2019. A spokesperson for the mine’s

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Published on
May 20, 2019

While most Alaska salmon fishermen are just starting to prowl the docks and get their boats and nets ready, the season got off to its official start on Thursday, 16 May, amidst a fairly strong statewide forecast

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