Manamelkudi Fisheries Producer Company Limited

If you go down to Pattangadumumpalai, we are at No. 324/2. It’s right near where the boats come in. Manamelkudi Fisheries Producer Company Limited is basically all of us who spend our lives on the water. We started this to help manage the catch and get it to the markets without losing too much money to middlemen. The office smells like salt and fish, which is just part of the job. It’s a simple concrete room with a few tables and some crates stacked in the corner. We don't have air conditioning, just the breeze from the sea. Some days the catch is huge and we are working until midnight. Other days, the sea is rough and we just sit around repairing nets. We don't have any fancy brochures. People know we are here by the smell and the noise of the trucks. My brother-in-law handles the accounts while I talk to the boat captains. It’s a lot of loud talking because of the wind. We try to keep things fair for everyone in the group. It’s a tough life, and your hands are always calloused, but it’s what we know. We aren't looking to become some giant corporation. We just want to make sure our families are taken care of and the fish keeps coming in. It’s honest work on the coast and we have been doing it for generations.