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