The Center for Responsible Seafood

Legal name: The Center for Responsible Seafood Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271140759
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Portsmouth, NH, USA
Phone
603.956.5150
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Agricultural Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,013,584
Expenses
$802,037
Assets
$862,807
Liabilities
$777,101

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GEORGE W CHAMBERLAIN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • GEORGE W CHAMBERLAIN (PRESIDENT): $25,499 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To drive the transformation of global food production systems by increasing food production while reducing environmental impacts, through regenerative seafood production.

What it reported doing in 2025

The center for responsible seafood was formed to perform research and develop curriculum content to education stakeholders in responsible and sustainable aquaculture. To accomplish this goal, the organization addresses six principal areas:1. Health and disease management2. Feeds3. Environmental/social accountability4. Financing5. Market support6. Leadership

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 50
  • Accountability: 40
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.5%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20.9%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.08; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.9; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 31.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 73.5% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $743K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $25K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.