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.


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Published on
December 16, 2019

The Oregon Department of Wildlife has initiated a total closure of salmon fishing on the state’s North Coast due to a die-off of fall Chinook salmon caused by a parasite, according to The Statesman Journal.

Some two hundred Chinook have been wiped out in the Wilson River by the parasite cryptoba, which was also found in dead salmon in the Nestucca, Trask, and Kilchis river basins. The majority of the salmon were killed before they

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Published on
December 12, 2019

Ocean Beauty Seafoods has accepted an offer on a closed seafood processing plant in Petersburg, Alaska, but the company has not yet identified the buyer, according to KFSK, a local radio station.

The former cannery and processing plant had been on the market for more than a year at USD 3.39 million (EUR 3.05 million), but sold after being reduced to USD 2.495 million (EUR 2.25 million).

Ocean Beauty Chief Financial Officer Tony Ross

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Published on
December 10, 2019

The Oregon commercial Dungeness crab season will be delayed until at least the end of the year, according to a Seattle Times report.

There is no update on when the Washington state season is set to open. Last month, fishery officials in California, Washington, and Oregon came together and decided to delay the season opening until at least the middle of December.

The delay is due to small crab sizes, with samples being too low in meat. Around a

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Published on
December 6, 2019

The pacific halibut catch appears to be on a downward trend in both volume and size, according to the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) ...

Photo courtesy of Earl D.

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Published on
December 2, 2019

Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture has agreed to pay USD 2.75 million (EUR 2.48 million) to settle a lawsuit related to the collapse of one of its net-pen structures at a fish farming site near Cypress Island, Washington, U.S.A.

The settlement puts to rest a suit filed by the environmental nonprofit Wild Fish Conservatory in 2017 over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.

Wild Fish Conservatory filed the lawsuit

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Published on
November 27, 2019

A Portland State University study has shown that microplastics –tiny fragments of plastic less than five millimeters in length – have been found in the vast majority of shellfish harvested on the Oregon coast.

The shellfish analyzed were from all parts of the state, from close to the border with Washington to just north of the California border, to more than two dozen additional sites in between. Some 300 oysters and razor

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Published on
November 25, 2019

The Alaskan red king crab season is nearly finished, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game which published a report last week saying the season – thus far disappointing –  was 99 percent culminated ... 

Photo courtesy of Adele

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Published on
November 18, 2019

Despite doomsday predictions from some at the beginning of the year, the 2019 Alaska salmon season brought in USD 657.6 million (EUR 594.88 million) for fishermen, a 10 percent increase from the previous year ... 

Photo courtesy of Rebecca

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Published on
November 18, 2019

The U.S. West Coast Dungeness crab season has been postponed in multiple states for a variety of reasons.

Last week in California, the Fish and Wildlife Department decided to postpone the start of the season for fishermen south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line from 15 to 22 November, citing the threat of sea turtle and whale entanglements, according to The Daily Democrat. Data showed that whales were migrating through the area and the delay

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Published on
November 6, 2019

Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.-based Standard Fish has taken its two decades of seafood distribution expertise into a new venue with the addition of a new home delivery business.

The family-owned and -operated seafood import and export company got its feet wet in the wholesale sector more than 20 years ago. Standard Fish began by selling seafood products to distributors, who then delivered to retailers and restaurants. But the company’s

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