Ben Fisher

Reporting from Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Ben Fisher is a Seattle-based freelance writer. Previously, he worked as night and copy editor at the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s largest English language newspaper, and as digital editor of Jewish Quarterly. He is fluent English, French, Hebrew, and Arabic.


Author Archive

Published on
November 6, 2018

Alaskan lawmakers are celebrating the decision made this week by the United States Department of Agriculture and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to approve a Section 32 purchase of USD 30 million (EUR 26.3 million) worth of Alaska pollock …

Photo courtesy of

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Published on
October 31, 2018

A sea lice infestation at Cermaq Canada’s Fortune Channel salmon farm caused the farm to be closed this past summer. 

The exact number of salmon that were euthanized was not disclosed, but according to Johnson, the company typically has “several hundred thousand fish” at each of the company’s farm sites. 

“Closing the site was the right thing to do as the fish were never going to recover well and would

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Published on
October 26, 2018

A U.S. Federal Court in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. has issued a ruling that is intended to protect salmon and steelhead trout in the Columbia River basin from rising water temperatures. 

In the mile-long lakes created by hydropower dams on the rivers, the water temperature has often exceeded 70 degrees Fahrenheit for days at a time, though the Clean Water Act bars the temperature in the river from exceeding 68 degrees. Cold water species

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Published on
October 24, 2018

With U.S. election day on 6 November just around the corner, Alaska Governor Bill Walker  shocked the state on 19 October by dropping out of his race for reelection.

Walker, an independent, said he realized he would not be able to win a three-way race, and has endorsed the Democratic candidate – former U.S. Senator Mark Begich – who faces former Republican State Senator Mike Dunleavy. Though Walker’s name will still be on

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Published on
October 17, 2018

On 6 November, Election Day in the United States, Alaskans will be voting on a ballot measure that seeks to protect the state’s salmon habitats. 

Alaska Ballot Measure 1, the Salmon Habitat Protections and Permits Initiative, would enact stricter regulations for oil and gas development in salmon habitats and additional regulations for restoring salmon streams if they are disturbed by development. Companies that don’t follow the

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Published on
October 11, 2018

Alaska Department of Corrections Commissioner Dean Williams has proposed a plan that would see prisoners in the state be able to finish their sentences working in Unalaska’s seafood plants, if the proposal is approved

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Published on
October 10, 2018

Next year’s pollock catch in the Western and Central Gulf of Alaska will drop substantially, according to the new catch limits for Gulf of Alaska species which are slated to be adopted by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council

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Published on
October 2, 2018

Pacific salmon fillets have been removed by the U.S. government from the list of products from China on which tariffs will apply

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Published on
September 25, 2018

Seafood companies in the U.S. Pacific Northwest are “getting sucked into the escalating trade war between the Trump administration and China,” according to a new

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Published on
September 21, 2018

The Union of B.C. Municipalities, a Canadian local government body, has joined with First Nations tribes and environmental groups in calling for a transition from open-net salmon farms to a closed containment system for the industry. 

A resolution passed by the UBCM urges the province to look into why many open-net fish farms were opened in First Nations territories without adequate consultation and encourages the province to begin

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