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
May 23, 2018

Red carpets and Alaskan Airlines Boeing jets painted with sockeye salmon livery welcomed the first shipment of Copper River salmon from Cordova, Alaska, U.S.A.  to Seattle’s Tacoma International Airport last week. 

Prices for Copper River salmon are expected to

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Published on
May 18, 2018

Cermaq Canada has stopped selling Aquaculture Stewardship Council-certified salmon it raises in British Columbia due to a sea lice outbreak at its farms in Clayoquot Sound

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Published on
May 14, 2018

A number of ports in Alaska are being upgraded this year in an effort to optimize safety and efficiency during the 2018 summer fishing season and beyond

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Published on
May 4, 2018

Seasoft, a Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.-based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software company, has been making moves lately that have bolstered its product and made its brand an even more appealing offering to seafood companies across the country.

Seasoft provides software that is designed to handle every aspect of a seafood processing and distribution company’s business operations, according to Seasoft Director of Marketing Tom

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Published on
May 1, 2018

The United States House of Representatives voted to reverse a federal judge’s ruling to release water from four dams in the Pacific Northwest in an attempt to help wild salmon migrate to the Pacific Ocean. 

The bill, which passed 225-189 on 25 April, was sponsored by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), and calls for no changes in dam operations until 2022. 

The four dams in question are Ice Harbor,

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Published on
April 30, 2018

Canada is not doing enough to mitigate the risks associated with salmon farming, a report released by the country’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Julie Gelfand has found. 

The report cites a lack of national standards for nets and anchoring equipment, suggested that the Department of Fisheries and Natural resources is not doing enough to monitor diseases among farmed fish populations, and recommends that

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Published on
April 17, 2018

A Superior Court judge in Thurston County, Washington, has ruled against Cooke Aquaculture, which had proposed a restocking of its Atlantic salmon net-pen farm at Cypress Island, Washington.

Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz in December terminated the farm’s license. She said that the company had violated the terms of the lease after a catastrophic collapse of the net last August, which resulted in more than

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Published on
April 16, 2018

The Pacific Fishery Management Council has announced that it will be modifying the West Coast groundfish fishery, including closing some

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Published on
April 10, 2018

In an attempt to boost the population of blue swimming crabs in Southeast Asia, the Seafood Industry Research Fund has sponsored a study researching the best practices to enhance the species’ stock

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Published on
April 2, 2018

Alaska Governor Bill Walker will be traveling to China this May with the goal of improving trade ties, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

The announcement of the trip comes among fears of an impending trade war between the United States and China. U.S. President Donald Trump said on 22 March he will impose tariffs on USD 60 billion (EUR 48.8 billion) worth of Chinese products, partially to retaliate against Chinese trade barriers and also in

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