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Global Fishing Watch Inc

EIN 81-5461345 · Washington, DC

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood80 out of 100GovernanceStrong100 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

GLOBAL FISHING WATCH ADVANCES OCEAN GOVERNANCE THROUGH INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF HUMAN ACTIVITY AT SEA. BY CREATING AND PUBLICLY SHARING MAP VISUALIZATIONS, DATA AND ANALYSIS TOOLS, WE ENABLE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DRIVE A TRANSFORMATION IN HOW WE MANAGE OUR OCEANS.

Income
$19.1 million
Spending
$23.0 million
Spent on programs
81%
Reserves
16.5 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 85%
Employees
45
Volunteers
10
Highest pay
$268,727, ceo

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Good: 80 out of 100. Higher than 53% of charities in its peer group (environment, $10m to $100m).

  • Reserves

    35 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 16.5 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 2% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    0 of 15

    Spending exceeded income by 21% of income.

  • Income trend

    10 of 15

    Income fell 2% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    81% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 3 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 35% of charities in its peer group (environment, $10m to $100m).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    10 of 10 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, 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 (3)
  1. $9.5 million spent. GLOBAL FISHING WATCH IS AN INTERNATIONAL NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION FOUNDED ON THE BELIEF THAT INFORMATION ABOUT THE OCEAN, OUR GLOBAL COMMONS, SHOULD BE COMMON KNOWLEDGE. OUR PURPOSE IS TO CREATE AND PUBLICLY SHARE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HUMAN ACTIVITY AT SEA TO ENABLE SUSTAINABLE USE OF OUR OCEAN. WE CREATE KNOWLEDGE USING CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY TO TURN BIG DATA INTO ACTIONABLE INFORMATION. WE SHARE THAT INFORMATION PUBLICLY TO ACCELERATE SCIENCE AND DRIVE FAIRER, SMARTER POLICIES AND PRACTICES THAT REWARD GOOD BEHAVIOR AND PROTECT BIODIVERSITY AND LIVELIHOODS. AND WE PROMOTE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND TRANSPARENCY AROUND OCEAN DATA TO ENABLE A NEW ERA OF OCEAN GOVERNANCE.BY 2030, WE AIM TO EMPOWER INSTITUTIONS AND PEOPLE TO: REDUCE ILLEGAL, UNREGULATED AND UNREPORTED (IUU) FISHING AND DESTRUCTIVE FISHING PRACTICESIMPROVE EFFECTIVE DESIGNATION AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS (MPAS) AND OTHER EFFECTIVE AREA-BASED CONSERVATION MEASURES (OECMS). BETTER ENFORCE AND PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF 1 MILLION SMALL-SCALE FISHERSTHREE INTERLINKED STRATEGIC PRIORITIES GUIDE OUR WORK:MAP ALL HUMAN ACTIVITY AT SEA: WE AIM TO PUBLICLY MONITOR AND MAP ALL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AT SEA, INCLUDING ALL INDUSTRIAL FISHING VESSELS, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SMALL-SCALE FISHING BOATS, ALL LARGE NON-FISHING VESSELS, AND FIXED INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS AQUACULTURE AND OIL RIGS. IN 2025, WE ACHIEVED OUR GOAL OF MAPPING 100% OF THE INDUSTRIAL FISHING FLEET. USING NEW OPTICAL SATELLITE IMAGERY, WE HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF VESSELS WE CAN DETECT. WE ALSO COMPLETED PROCESSING A FULL YEAR OF HIGHER-RESOLUTION OPTICAL IMAGERY OF GLOBAL COASTAL WATERS, PROVIDED BY OUR PARTNER PLANET. THIS ENABLES US TO DETECT SEVERAL TIMES MORE VESSELS THAN BEFORE, OFFERING UNPRECEDENTED INSIGHT INTO ACTIVITY IN COASTAL WATERS THE MOST BIODIVERSE AND HEAVILY USED PART OF THE OCEAN.
  2. $6.5 million spent. ENGAGE NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS TO USE OPEN DATA AND ADOPT TRANSPARENCY: WE ARE ENGAGING SELECTED COUNTRIES TO ADOPT TRANSPARENCY AS A CORE PRINCIPLE AND TO SHARE THEIR VESSEL AND OCEAN DATA MORE WIDELY. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY, COMBINED WITH OUR TECHNOLOGY, IS ENABLING STRONGER ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS AND POLICY SHIFTS, HELPING THESE COUNTRIES ADDRESS THREATS TO THE OCEAN AND BECOME INTERNATIONAL ADVOCATES FOR TRANSPARENCY. AS OF THE END OF 2025, MORE THAN 20 GOVERNMENTS ARE USING OUR TECHNOLOGY AND DATA. OF THESE, 12 HAVE TAKEN THE SIGNIFICANT STEP OF PUBLICLY SHARING THEIR VESSEL TRACKING DATA VIA OUR MAP, AND MANY ARE USING OUR TOOLS TO GENERATE INSIGHTS THAT STRENGTHEN MARINE PROTECTION AND
  3. $2.7 million spent. ADVANCE TRANSPARENCY IN INTERNATIONAL POLICIES AND FORUMS: UN AGENCIES, REGIONAL BODIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ALSO NEED TO EMBRACE TRANSPARENCY PRINCIPLES FOR THE OCEAN. IN 2025, WE SECURED EXPLICIT RECOGNITION OF THE ROLE OF TRANSPARENCY AND TECHNOLOGY IN ENDING ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED (IUU) FISHING IN THE UN OCEAN CONFERENCE'S NICE OCEAN ACTION PLAN. THIS BUILDS ON OUR SUCCESS IN EMBEDDING TRANSPARENCY, OPEN DATA AND TECHNOLOGY AS CORE PILLARS OF OCEAN GOVERNANCE IN THE 2025 UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND 2024 UN SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES RESOLUTIONS.MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GLOBAL FISHING WATCH'S ONGOING PROGRAMS CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.GLOBALFISHINGWATCH.ORG.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. 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.

  2. 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 October 13, 2026.

  3. 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.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since July 2017.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. 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 October 21, 2026.

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