The Fishermen's Union Trading Company (F.U.T.C.), a limited liability company, was founded in 1911 to be the commercial arm of the Fishermen's Protective Union (FPU).[1] Its mandate, as set out by William Coaker, founder of the FPU, was to be the agent for cooperative purchasing of supplies by fishermen along the coast of Newfoundland and to also serve as a cooperative marketing agent of their fish catches.