Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
920057726
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ketchikan, AK, USA
Phone
9072259605
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fisheries Resources

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,259,698
Expenses
$13,120,924
Assets
$37,914,470
Liabilities
$16,296,802

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chris Guggenbickler (Board President)
  • Leif Dobszinsky (Board Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Susan Doherty (General Manager): $170,000 total reported compensation
  • Bret Hiatt (Finance Manager): $137,739 total reported compensation
  • Garret Vincentz (Board Director): $3,300 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Enhance and rehabilitate the salmon resources in Southern Southeast Alaska to the optimum possible economic and social benefit of all resource users.

What it reported doing in 2024

Chinook - SSRAA programs are established to enhance and rehabilitate salmon production in southern Southeast Alaska to the optimum social and economic benefit of salmon users. The expenditures related to producing returning adult salmon is accomplished through operation of seven hatcheries and six remote release sites. The Southeast Alaska commercial salmon fleets are the largest benefactors catching SSRAA salmon. In 2025 there were 278 SE seine permit holders, 475 SE drift gillnet permit holders, 866 State hand troll permit holders, and 953 State power troll permit holders. Each of these fishermen is an independent small business. In addition to the commercial fleets there are several hundred commercial sport charter businesses, non-guided resident sport fishermen, personal use fisherman, and subsistence fisherman benefiting from SSRAA salmon returns. The 2025 SSRAA chinook smolt release was 2,438,600 million.From the releases of SSRAA chinook smolts returning as adults the chinook salmon program generated $1,871,695 in exvessel value to the commercial fleet in 2024. The wholesale value to regional communities is approximately twice that amount. SSRAA chinook returns also have a strong positive impact on local sport, personal use, and subsistence opportunity.

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 100% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.7%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.89; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.7% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $170K · 23 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $485K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 21 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.