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.

Published on
August 8, 2018

Four Homer-area men have been arrested and charged with illegal harvesting of salmon in Dog Fish Bay on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

According to a dispatch filed by Alaska Wildlife Troopers, more than 33,000 pounds of salmon were illegally harvested by the quartet. 

Eric Winslow, 61, Paul Roth, 35, Mark Roth, 64, and Robert Roth, 39, all of Homer except for Robert, who is from Anchor Point, were charged with different counts related to

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Published on
July 23, 2018

Seafood buyers from Ukraine are visiting Alaska this month to discuss with the state how to rebuild trade relationships with a country that is renowned for its love of smoked fish and salmon roe

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Published on
July 12, 2018

While the Copper River District is still closed to commercial and sport salmon fishing, and is on par to have its second-worst season in a half century, other districts in Alaska are delivering more encouraging numbers

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Published on
July 10, 2018

More than 70 percent of the fish processing plants recently inspected by the Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy were found out of compliance with environmental regulations.

The ministry carried out an audit of more than 30 fish processing plants in response to public outcry over a video showing an open pipe spewing bloody fluid from a fish processing plant into the Salish Sea in British Columbia, Canada. The video

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Published on
July 5, 2018

Although Alaskan state biologists predicted a harvest of more than a million sockeye salmon from the Copper River this season, only around 25,000 sockeye were commercially harvested in in May, with 7,000 king salmon being harvested during the same period

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Published on
June 27, 2018

The United States Coast Guard on 23 June detained a Chinese fishing vessel it suspected of illegal fishing, in international waters about 860 nautical miles off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan.

A coast guard Kodiak C-130 aircraft initially spotted the ship during a routine patrol. Chinese Coast Guard officials were also involved in the operation and boarded with the USCG. 

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the captain of the Run Da admitted

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Published on
June 20, 2018

A study by the McDowell Group indicates that Alaska’s seafood industry lacks diversification, and that any drop-off in production of one particular species could deal a severe blow to the state’s economy

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Published on
June 15, 2018

The Alaskan Department of Fish and Game has decided to close the Copper River fishery, which is faced with its second lowest commercial harvest

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Published on
June 12, 2018

A new study from fisheries expert Ray Hilborn compares the environmental impact of various forms of animal husbandry.

The study, which appeared in “Frontiers in Ecology and The Environment,” is an all-encompassing look on how animal protein production affects the environment.

“From the consumers' standpoint, choice matters. If you’re an environmentalist, what you eat makes a difference,” Hilborn said. “We

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Published on
June 6, 2018

Alaska Governor Bill Walker has called for a tripling of seafood exports from his state to China “as soon as possible.” 

China, which has already been the state’s largest export partner for the last seven years, imported USD 800 million (EUR 680 million) of Alaska seafood in

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