Ben Freitas

Ben Freitas manages ocean policy for the World Wildlife Fund U.S. office. With over twenty years of experience, his work focuses on strengthening fisheries governance and management, combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, preventing the trade in endangered, threatened and vulnerable marine species, and promoting transparency in the fisheries sector. Prior to joining WWF, Ben was a science fellow with the NGO Oceana, where he worked to advance efforts to address bycatch in U.S. fisheries, establish shark conservation measures in the U.S., and eliminate capacity enhancing fishing subsidies through a new global agreement at the World Trade Organization. His Master’s thesis evaluated sources of shark mortality and conservation measures in the Northwest Atlantic. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s from Brown University. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he is based in Washington, DC.

Education

• MA, Brown University
• BS, University of Virginia

Areas of Expertise

• Fisheries governance and management
• Transparency and corruption in natural resource management
• Trade in illegal fish