WildFish

What WildFish does

WildFish (legally WildFish Conservation; rebranded from Salmon & Trout Conservation in 2018) is a UK-registered charity founded in 2008 that campaigns to protect wild fish populations, particularly Atlantic salmon, and their freshwater habitats. The organisation operates through four interlocking mechanisms: a citizen science monitoring programme (SmartRivers, covering 125+ UK rivers with invertebrate fingerprinting certified by the Institute of Fisheries Management and a new Environmental DNA pathway introduced in 2025 with biomonitoring partner TRACE), strategic litigation and regulatory complaints (including successful Information Commissioner rulings, an upheld OEP sewage complaint, and High Court judicial review permissions), policy advocacy targeting UK and devolved governments, and public campaigns - most notably Off the Table, which has recruited over 150 hospitality businesses including Wimbledon, O2 Arena, Chelsea FC and the National Theatre to remove farmed salmon from menus since its 2022 launch.

WildFish is funded almost entirely through individual donations, recurring memberships, and fundraising events, with an annual auction raising £115,000+ in 2024 and £25,659 raised through Big Give's Green Match Fund in April 2025. It runs a 17-person core team (plus trustees and vice presidents) out of Salisbury, supported by an open-access SmartRivers database and weekly sea lice monitoring service that evidences regulatory breaches by salmon farms. The customer base is effectively its stakeholder ecosystem: individual donors and members (mass-market), conservation groups running SmartRivers hubs, hospitality businesses recruited as campaign partners, and government/regulatory bodies engaged through legal and policy channels. Pricing is not applicable as the charity provides no paid products; all outputs - data, reports, legal findings - are distributed freely to maximise public and policy impact.

Name

WildFish

Legal name

WildFish Conservation

Website

https://wildfish.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WildFish is a UK conservation charity founded in 2008 that protects wild fish and freshwater habitats through citizen science monitoring (SmartRivers), strategic litigation, policy advocacy, and the Off the Table campaign, serving individual supporters, conservation groups, hospitality businesses, and government regulators across the United Kingdom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

akta.pro primary industry

Marine & Freshwater Conservation (BPAGAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Wildlife Conservation & Species Protection (BPAGAGAB)

Keywords

• Wild fish conservation
• Freshwater habitat protection
• Citizen science monitoring
• Environmental advocacy charity
• River health monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Salisbury

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: WildFish relies primarily on donations from supporters, one-time and recurring contributions, and fundraising activities including annual auctions that have raised over £100,000 per year. The organization runs annual fundraising auctions with generous fishing lots and varied donations.
2. Membership Fees: WildFish offers membership with direct handling of new members, renewals, and account updates by the Head of Operations.
3. Campaign Support: Revenue generated through campaign-specific support including the Off the Table campaign and petitions that drive supporter engagement and donations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

WildFish is a UK conservation charity that protects wild fish and their freshwater habitats through citizen science monitoring (SmartRivers), public advocacy campaigns (Off The Table), strategic litigation, and policy submissions. The organization does not sell products but provides conservation services, scientific data, and advocacy outputs to supporters, hospitality businesses, conservation groups, and policymakers. Programs are funded by donations, membership fees, and fundraising auctions.

Product overview

WildFish is a UK-based river conservation charity (not a software company) offering a portfolio of environmental monitoring programs and campaigns focused on protecting wild fish populations. Its core scientific programs include SmartRivers (citizen science toolkit for invertebrate fingerprinting and eDNA sampling), the Riverfly Census (historical water quality monitoring), and Fish Lens (invertebrate image library). SmartRivers is its flagship monitoring initiative, with SmartRivers eDNA representing a new data collection pathway. The organization also coordinates the 'Off The Table' campaign against salmon farming, publishes weekly sea lice statistics, and maintains an open-access SmartRivers database. These programs are complemented by membership, donation, and fundraising services, along with downloadable reports and advocacy resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SmartRivers Citizen Science Program A scientifically robust citizen science toolkit that empowers local communities to collect professional-grade ecological monitoring data (invertebrate fingerprinting and eDNA sampling) to assess water quality and protect wild fish and their habitats. Training is certified by the Institute of Fisheries Management. The program has covered 125 rivers across the UK with over 6,000 volunteer training hours.
• Off The Table Campaign A coalition campaign coordinated by WildFish that raises awareness of the environmentally destructive nature of the salmon farming industry and calls on the hospitality sector to take farmed salmon off their menus. Maintains a directory of participating chefs and restaurants and has recruited over 150 hospitality businesses including Wimbledon, O2 Arena, Chelsea FC, and National Theatre since March 2024.
• Riverfly Census A three-year citizen science program (2015-2017) that collected high-resolution scientific data about water quality in 12 rivers across England and Wales by sampling aquatic invertebrates as indicators of river health.
• Fish Lens An open-access image library of freshwater invertebrates hosted on the WildFish website to support species identification for the SmartRivers and Riverfly Census programs.
• Weekly Sea Lice Statistics Weekly published statistics on sea lice levels at salmon farms to evidence farms in breach of the Code of Good Practice and Scottish Government lice limits, hosted on the WildFish website.
• SmartRivers Database Open-access database hosted at wildfish.cartographer.io containing SmartRivers volunteer-collected river monitoring data from sample sites across the UK.

Quantifiable outcome

• Wild salmon populations in Scotland declined 70% over two decades
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Institute of Fisheries ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025SmartRivers invertebrate fingerprinting training is certified by the Institute of Fisheries Management, ensuring professional standards for volunteer river monitoring.
• WimbledoncoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2024Major sporting venue joined the Off the Table campaign in 2024 to take farmed salmon off menus, representing high-profile hospitality sector commitment to wild salmon conservation.
• O2 ArenacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2024Major entertainment venue pledged to remove farmed salmon from menus through the Off the Table campaign, demonstrating sector-leading commitment to sustainable seafood.
• Chelsea Football ClubcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2024Premier League football club joined the Off the Table campaign to serve sustainable seafood and demonstrate environmental responsibility to fans.
• National TheatrecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2024Leading arts institution partnered with Off the Table campaign to remove farmed salmon from its restaurants, supporting conservation messaging to cultural audiences.
• Over 150 hospitality businesses and 50+ community groupscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2024Since March 2024, the Off the Table campaign recruited over 150 hospitality businesses including major venues and more than 50 community group partners to promote sustainable salmon consumption.
• Big Give Green Match FundminorGTM or Marketing PartnerWildFish successfully participated in Big Give's Green Match Fund campaign in April 2025, where donations were doubled between 22-29 April, raising £25,659 to expand SmartRivers.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WWF UK: The UK arm of the world's largest conservation organisation. A broad incumbent whose freshwater and oceans work intersects with WildFish's remit, but with much greater scale, broader remit, and corporate partnership model.
• Friends of the Earth England, Wales & Northern Ireland: A broad UK environmental advocacy charity actively campaigning on sewage pollution and rivers. Overlaps with WildFish on water-pollution litigation and policy but operates a much broader environmental remit than fish-specific conservation.
• RSPB: Largest UK wildlife charity by income and membership, focused on birds and habitats. Relevant scale and member-led model peer, though its freshwater and fisheries remit is narrower than WildFish's.

Emerging players

• ClientEarth: International environmental law charity using strategic litigation against governments and polluters. Overlaps directly with WildFish's legal team activities (court challenges, OEP complaints) and represents a peer in environmental enforcement capacity.

Direct peers

• Angling Trust: The representative body for angling in England and Wales, campaigning on water quality, fisheries, and access. Shares WildFish's freshwater and angler stakeholder base, and is a natural coalition partner (and occasional collaborator) on river health advocacy.
• The Wildlife Trusts: Federation of 46 local UK wildlife trusts managing nature reserves and running conservation projects. Comparable operating model (charity + local branches + volunteer base) and overlapping habitat agendas, though broader taxonomy than WildFish's fish-specific focus.
• The Rivers Trust: The UK federation of river catchment trusts and a near-perfect mission peer: it coordinates a national network of local river-focused charities, runs citizen-science water monitoring, and advocates for catchment health — overlapping directly with WildFish's SmartRivers programme and policy advocacy remit.
• Buglife: UK invertebrate conservation charity focused on species-level policy and habitat protection. Direct methodological overlap with WildFish's invertebrate fingerprinting citizen-science and overlapping freshwater priorities, making it a peer in scientific capacity and volunteer model.
• Atlantic Salmon Trust: A Scotland-anchored UK charity dedicated to wild Atlantic salmon science, restoration, and habitat improvement — the closest niche peer to WildFish's species-and-habitat focus, and a likely co-funder of the IUCN Red List reassessment that WildFish supporters backed.
• Marine Conservation Society: UK charity focused on marine ecosystems, sustainable seafood and pollution (including salmon farming). Direct peer on the consumer/hospitality sustainability advocacy axis through WildFish's Off the Table campaign.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/WildFishCons
• Facebookfacebook.com/WildFishConservation
• Instagraminstagram.com/wildfishcons
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/salmon-trout-conservation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WildFish