Donate Fish
Seafood companies, processors, distributors, seafood markets, and fishermen can help provide nutritious seafood to communities facing food insecurity while reducing unnecessary waste.
Overproduction, packaging or label changes, excess inventory, market fluctuations, and short shelf-life windows can leave high-quality seafood sitting in cold storage or at risk of going unused. Instead of letting good product go to waste, donate it through SeaShare.
SeaShare works with seafood industry partners across the country to coordinate the transportation, storage, and distribution of donated seafood to food banks and feeding centers.
Why Donate Seafood?
- Reduce food waste and maximize product utilization
- Support hunger relief efforts in your community and nationwide
- Help food banks access nutritious, high-quality protein
- Potentially qualify for enhanced charitable tax deductions
- Demonstrate your company’s commitment to sustainability and community impact
Major seafood donors may also be recognized on SeaShare’s Partners page based on the impact of their donations.
What Can Be Donated?
SeaShare may be able to accept a wide variety of seafood products, including:
- Frozen seafood products
- Excess inventory or overproduction
- Product with updated packaging or labels
- Short-dated but wholesome inventory
- Seafood from promotional changes or discontinued items
- Bulk seafood suitable for repacking or food bank distribution
If you are unsure whether your product qualifies, please contact us to discuss donation opportunities.
How Seafood Donations Work
SeaShare helps coordinate the logistics required to move seafood from industry partners to food banks and feeding centers. Depending on the donation, SeaShare may assist with:
- Food bank placement
- Cold storage coordination
- Freight and transportation logistics
- Packaging and repacking coordination
- Donation documentation and receipting
Our goal is to make seafood donations simple, efficient, and impactful for industry partners.
Tax Incentives for Seafood Donations
The following information is presented for general information only. Consult with your attorney or tax consultant to determine its application to your specific organization and situation.
Food Donation Liability Protection
The Food Donation Improvement Act of 2021 was signed into law in 2023 and expanded protections under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996.
The law provides civil and criminal liability protections for food donors and food recovery organizations donating wholesome food in good faith. The FDIA also expanded protections for qualified direct food donations and donations made through nonprofit organizations and certain reduced-cost food programs.
Enhanced Tax Deduction for Food Donations
U.S. Congress enacted Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code to encourage food donations by allowing qualifying businesses to receive an enhanced tax deduction for donated food inventory.
Wholesome food that is properly donated to a qualified nonprofit organization and appropriately documented may be eligible for an enhanced tax deduction. In general, the deduction may equal:
- The donated food’s basis value, plus
- One-half of the food’s appreciated value
The total deduction generally cannot exceed twice the donated food’s basis cost. Fair market value determinations may vary by company and product type.
For more information: IRS – Charitable Contributions and Food Inventory Donations
Food Donation Legal Guide
The Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic has published a legal guide on food donation tax deductions and liability protections.
For additional information: Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic – Tax Deduction for Food Donation
Questions?
For all fish and seafood donation questions, please contact anna@seashare.org.