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
January 29, 2020

The Environmental Defense Fund is praising the remarkable recovery of the groundfish fishery on the U.S. West Coast.

The fishery, which consists predominantly of species of rockfish and flatfish, was near collapse due to overfishing two decades ago. Thanks to conservation efforts, a recovery effort has been massively successful, with only two stocks classified as overfished, down from 10 when the efforts began. In addition, the two

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Published on
January 28, 2020

Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) has hired Amy Humphreys as Bristol Bay Seafood Investments president and CEO and Everette Anderson as Bristol Bay Seafood Investments senior vice president.

Humphreys, the former president and CEO of Icicle Seafoods, and Anderson, who is a BBNC board member, have been brought on to “provide strategic leadership and operational oversight to Bristol Bay Seafood Investments and its subsidiary Bristol Bay

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Published on
January 24, 2020

The processing of Alaskan pollock into products such as fish sticks, surimi and fish fillets generates “significant greenhouse gas emissions,” researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz have found.

According to a study released by the university, the processing of the products post-catch results in almost twice as many emissions as the fishing itself. Typically, climate impact analysis of fishing ends once the catch is

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Published on
January 23, 2020

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WSDFW) has approved a five-year permit for Cooke Aquaculture to farm steelhead trout in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, according to The Seattle Times.

In March 2018, Washington state’s legislature voted to phase out the farming of non-native finfish after some 500,000 Atlantic salmon escaped from a Cooke farm near Cypress Island the previous year.

In deciding to farm steelhead, Cooke

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Published on
January 22, 2020

A group of Alaskan pollock industry officials, in China for a 10-day trade visit to explore opportunities in the country, met with senior U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service officials at the United States’ Embassy in Beijing last week.

The tour, sponsored in large part by a grant from the Emerging Market Department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, also included stops in Qingdao and Shanghai.

“We were

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Published on
January 21, 2020

An updated Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) survey executed by the McDowell Group shows a healthy Alaskan seafood industry that has grown in value in almost all regions in the past five years ...

Photo courtesy of

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Published on
January 10, 2020

2020 has arrived, which means that several fishing seasons are underway in Alaska – or are readying to begin.  

Alaska’s crab and cod fisheries launched on 1 January. This year’s Bering Sea cod season features …

Photo courtesy of

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Published on
January 7, 2020

A group of Alaska pollock industry officials arrived earlier this week in Shanghai for a 10-day visit to China as an exploratory trip to appraise opportunities in the country, according to a Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) press release.

The tour, sponsored in large part by a grant from the Emerging Market Department of the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, will also include stops in Qingdao and

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Published on
December 23, 2019

The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) Board of Directors approved USD 1.5 million (EUR 1.35 million) worth of funding for partnership programs in North America, according to a GAPP press release.

The partnership program, now in its third round, will fund projects that bring wild Alaskan pollock to the North American market through new products or channels.

“This was the most competitive round of proposals yet,”

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Published on
December 17, 2019

The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) has announced the reelection of its board of directors and officers for 2020.

The board, made up of executives from a number of different organizations and companies with shares of the fishery’s total allowable catch, will continue to be helmed by Mikel Durham of American Seafoods. Doug Christensen of Arctic Storm Holding Company will serve again as the group’s treasurer,

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