For the Fishes
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
TO ADDRESS, EDUCATE, COORDINATE, AND ENHANCE ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY TO END TEH TRADE IN CORAL REEF WILDLIFE FOR HOUSEHOLD AND OTHER SMALL DISPLAY AQUARIUMS. OUR SUPPLY AND DEMAND SIDE STRATEGIES ARE DIRECTED LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY TO FACILITATE POSITIVE SHIFTS AT THE FISHERY, DISTRIBUTION, POLICY AND CONSUMER LEVELS.
- Income
- $133,197
- Spending
- $102,837
- Reserves
- 26 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 99%
- Highest pay
- $48,000, executive di
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 86% of charities in its peer group (animals, under $250k).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 26.0 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 23% of income.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (2)
- $76,277 spent. 1.EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: FOR THE FISHES (FTF) ADVOCATES FOR THE END OF THE CAPTURE, PURCHASE, AND DISPLAY OF WILD MARINE LIFE IN PERSONAL SALTWATER AQUARIUMS. ACTIVITIES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND ADVOCACY, ENFORCEMENT, COALITION BUILDING, AND EFFORTS AIMED AT REDUCING CONSUMER DEMAND FOR WILD MARINE LIFE. THE FOCUS OF FTFS MAIN EFFORTS IS IN HAWAII, WHICH HISTORICALLY WAS THE WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST SOURCE OF WILD REEF FISHES AND OTHER CREATURES FOR THE MARINE AQUARIUM TRADE WHICH SELLS WILDLIFE TO AQUARIUM HOBBYIST, BUSINESSES, AND INSTITUTIONS WORLDWIDE. HAWAII'S COMPARATIVELY SMALL CORAL REEFS WERE HEAVILY IMPACTED BY DECADES OF OVER-EXPLOITATION. THE HAWAII AQUARIUM TRADE REGULARLY CAPTURED FAR MORE FISHES THAN WERE ALLOWED TO BE TAKEN BY THE QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA AQUARIUM COLLECTORS FROM AUSTRALIA'S ENTIRE GREAT BARRIER REEF WHICH IS 300 TIMES LARGER THAN HAWAII'S REEF AREA. HEAVILY TARGETED SPECIES HAVE BEEN DEPLETED BY UPWARDS OF 90% IN SOME OF HAWAII'S MOST HEAVILY IMPACTED AREAS. FTF HAS LONG ADVOCATED FOR THE NEED FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT AND SOLUTIONS. THE STATE'S FAILURE TO ENACT RULES OR LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS THE TRADES IMPACTS LED FTFS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO PURSUE LEGAL REMEDIES, ALONG WITH A NUMBER OF PARTNERS. WITH PRO BONO REPRESENTATION BY EARTHJUSTICE, THE NATION'S LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FIRM, THE FIRST LAW SUIT REACHED HAWAII'S SUPREME COURT AND RESULTED IN A RULING IN LATE 2017 THAT AQUARIUM COLLECTION PERMITS WERE ILLEGAL AND INVALID FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE HAWAII ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (HEPA). 2024 WAS THE SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR THAT HAWAII'S REEFS REMAINED FREE FROM THE DESTRUCTIVE AQUARIUM TRADE. THE ABSENCE OF AQUARIUM COLLECTION HAS RESULTED IN MILLIONS MORE ESSENTIAL REEF FISHES AND INVERTEBRATES ON HAWAII'S REEFS, ENHANCING THEIR HEALTH, BEAUTY, RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, AND IMMENSE BENEFITS TO RESIDENTS AND VISITORS, ALIKE. THIS INCREASE IN MARINE LIFE ABUNDANCE IS THE DIRECT RESULT OF FTFS WORK THAT HAS, THUS FAR, PREVENTED THE RESUMPTION OF AQUARIUM COLLECTION UNDER DEEPLY FLAWED EISS. HAWAII SHARK PROTECTION: ON JANUARY 1, 2022 THE HAWAII SHARK PROTECTION ACT TOOK EFFECT, AND HAWAII BECAME THE FIRST STATE IN THE NATION TO PROHIBIT THE INTENTIONAL OR KNOWING CAPTURE OR ENTANGLEMENT OF ANY SHARK, WHETHER ALIVE OR DEAD, OR KILLING OF ANY SHARK, WITHIN STATE MARINE WATERS. IN 2021 FTF AND ITS PARTNERS IN THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITY LED THE EFFORT TO PASS THIS NEW LAW. FTF HAS CONTINUED TO REACH HAWAII RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES AND VISITORS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF SHARKS TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN CULTURE, THEIR IMPORTANT ROLE IN A HEATHY OCEAN ECOSYSTEM AND THE PASSAGE OF THE HAWAII SHARK PROTECTION ACT IN SIGNAGE DISPLAYED AT HAWAII'S HARBORS AND BOAT RAMPS, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES. TANK WATCH: MOST PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE THAT FEWER THAN 5% OF THE FISH SPECIES KEPT IN SALTWATER AQUARIUMS CAN BE AQUACULTURED ON A COMMERCIAL SCALE, OR THAT THE U.S. MARINE AQUARIUM TRADE ANNUALLY IMPORTS OVER 11 MILLION WILD CORAL REEF FISHES FOR AQUARIUM HOBBYISTS, SMALL BUSINESS AND LARGE PUBLIC DISPLAY AQUARIUMS. FOR THE FISHES ADVOCATES FOR AN END TO THE KEEPING OF WILD MARINE LIFE IN PERSONAL SALTWATER AQUARIUMS AND WORKS TO EDUCATE CONSUMERS AND THE PUBLIC IN ORDER TO REDUCE CONSUMER DEMAND FOR THIS WILDLIFE. IN 2024 WE REACHED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AQUARIUM HOBBYISTS AND THOSE INTERESTED IN MARINE FISHKEEPING ON OUR WEBPAGE, TANK WATCH, DESIGNED TO EDUCATE MARINE AQUARIUM HOBBYISTS AND THROUGH SEARCH ENGINE ADS THANKS TO A GENEROUS IN-KIND DONATION FROM GOOGLE.
- $16,800 spent. 2. CONSERVATION: FTF WORKS TO PROTECT CORAL REEF WILDLIFE THROUGH REDUCING ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED FISHING IN THE MARINE AQUARIUM TRADE. ACTIVITIES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, ADVOCACY, RESEARCH, AND CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT IN DOCUMENTING AND REPORTING SUSPECTED ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES IN THE MARINE AQUARIUM TRADE. AT A 2024 PRESENTATION TO OVER ONE HUNDRED GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WORLDWIDE, WE EXPOSED THE MYRIAD NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF THE AQ TRADE DURING A TECHNICAL INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON MARINE ORNAMENTAL FISHES ORGANIZED BY THE CONVENTION ON TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES (CITES). 808-NO-POACH/ANTI-POACHING EFFORTS: FTF CONDUCTED INVESTIGATIONS STEMMING FROM INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CONCERNED CITIZENS IN HAWAII. PARTNERING WITH STATE AND FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, FTF LAID THE GROUNDWORK THAT LED TO CITATIONS, CONVICTIONS, AND LARGE FINES FOR A NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THREE LARGE AQUARIUM POACHING OPERATIONS ON HAWAII ISLAND. CYANIDE FISH ASSESSMENT: EXPERTS ESTIMATE THAT UPWARDS OF 90% OF CORAL REEF FISHES SOLD IN THE MARINE AQUARIUM TRADE ARE ILLEGALLY CAPTURED WITH CYANIDE WHICH IS USED TO PARALYZE FISH FOR EASY CAPTURE. CYANIDE IS HIGHLY POISONOUS TO BOTH THE VERTEBRATE AND INVERTEBRATE ORGANISMS EXPOSED TO IT: AT HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS IT IS IMMEDIATELY LETHAL, AND AT LOWER CONCENTRATIONS IT CAUSES ORGAN AND TISSUE DAMAGE THAT ARE IRREVERSIBLE AND LEAD TO DELAYED MORTALITY. FTF IS WORKING WITH A LEADING CORAL EXPERT AND FORENSIC ECOTOXICOLOGIST IN RESEARCH TO ASSESS THE PREVALENCE OF CYANIDE- CAUGHT FISH IN THE U.S. MARINE AQUARIUM TRADE.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since April 2015.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
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