WorldFish

Legal name: International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management Inc I

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
980022331
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Penang, Bayan Lepas, Malaysia
Phone
6046286888
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$34,793,000
Expenses
$34,431,000
Assets
$18,642,000
Liabilities
$10,909,000

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ESSAM MOHAMMED (DIR GENERAL OF WORLDFISH): $332,618 total reported compensation
  • RODRIGUE YOSSA (DIR AQUATIC FOOD BIOSCIENCES): $211,288 total reported compensation
  • ANN FLEMING (DIR PROGRAMS AND IMPACT): $207,817 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

WorldFish is an international, non-profit research and innovation organization that works to reduce hunger, malnutrition, and poverty by improving fisheries and aquaculture. We harness the potential of aquatic food systems to transform food, land, and water systems for healthy and resilient diets.

What it reported doing in 2024

Asia-africa bluetech superhighway (aabs) under the climate and ocean adaptation and sustainable transition programme (coast) is a project that harnesses south-south collaboration to assess, adapt and scale evidence-based innovations and models for delivering nature-positive impact through aquatic food systems. Implemented by iclarm in collaboration with a host of partners, aabs aims to transform the livelihoods of coastal communities across asian and african countries, particularly for women and youth, and help restore marine and coastal ecosystems by developing sustainable and resilient aquatic food systems. Funded by uk international development under the blue planet fund, aabs is being implemented in two phases over seven years (2023-2030). Phase 1 which over four years will be implemented in bangladesh, kenya, mozambique, nigeria and tanzania aiming to reach over 300,000 primary beneficiaries, at least 50% of them women and youth, and over 400,000 secondary beneficiaries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 82% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.59; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.4%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 8 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 80.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $27.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $333K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $838K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 22 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.