A fisherman in India’s southern state of Tamilnadu has started the country’s first and only radio channel for fisherfolk.

Armstrong Fernando from Ramanathapuram district's Pamban town has started Kadal Osai FM 90.4.

Pamban island is located between peninsular India and Sri Lanka.

With almost 80 percent of the town’s population engaged in fishing, the station offers them programming that will range from information on marine safety awareness and COVID-19 to folk songs sung by fishermen/women, film songs as well as daily happenings in the town.

According to Fernando, due to government regulations, island fishermen are only allowed to stay at sea for 24 hours. The fish they catch during that period is sold onshore. Often, information about where there are more fish, as well as how they move during high-speed waves or storms is collected and transmitted on the station.

The station also serves as a direct link between the government and the community to quickly resolve people's problems, from receiving government incentives to purchasing tokens for fishing.

The station’s transmission range is 5-10 km at the moment and apart from a station manager, , the other 12 staff members are part-time fishermen or their family members.