Sustainable Fishery Advocates

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571169538
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Phone
8314606241
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,582,283
Expenses
$3,888,017
Assets
$2,386,991
Liabilities
$1,083,849

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNIFER A BARKER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KATHLEEN O'ROURKE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER A BARKER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $252,639 total reported compensation
  • KATHLEEN O'ROURKE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $216,924 total reported compensation
  • KELLEY BELL (SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DIRECTOR): $199,446 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Fishwise is a non-profit sustainable seafood consultancy with a mission to sustain ocean ecosystems and the people who depend on them by transforming seafood supply chains. In the 20+ years since its founding, fishwise has redefined responsible business practices in the seafood industry, driving greater accountability and oversight for the environmental and social impacts of seafood production. Fishwise achieves its mission through a combined approach of 1) longstanding partnerships with seafood companies 2) by amplifying impact via collaboration and collective action, and 3) by advocating for transparent, traceable, legal, and ethical seafood supply chains.

What it reported doing in 2025

Traceability and counter-iuu fishing program; illegal, unreported, and unregulated (iuu) fishing is a global threat that jeopardizes the health of ocean ecosystems, fuels human rights abuses, and undercuts law-abiding seafood businesses. Over the past decade, fishwise has emerged as a global leader in advancing supply chain traceability and transparency- the ability to access information and track seafood from harvest to market- as a powerful mechanism to combat iuu fishing and forced labor in seafood production. With governments, ngos, and industry partners, fishwise is driving knowledge exchange, policy reform, and collective action towards legal, traceable, and ethical seafood supply chains.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -50.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $253K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $564K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.