After the devastating Tsunami of 26th December 2005, MSSRF had initiated activities related to immediate relief measures, efforts which included restarting livelihoods, agronomic rehabilitation, support for nutrition and education of orphan children, etc., based on the needs expressed by the coastal communities. As a long term solution for sustainable livelihood of the fisher communities, the Fish for All Research and Training Centre has been setup at Kaveripoompattinam (Poombhur) in Nagapattanam District, Tamil Nadu. This Centre adopts a holistic approach in resource management, sustainable livelihood options and disaster preparedness and management.

The Centre houses a training hall; Village Resource Centre to enhance the training through Information Communication Technology based options; fish pre-processing facility which offers hands-on training of value addition of the low value fish and a dormitory to house the trainees. Provisions have also been made to show case the Low External Input Sustainable Aquaculture (LISA) through components like crab farming, inland fish culture and shrimp farming using Good Aquaculture Practices (GAP). This is a pilot initiative of its kind in India and would provide the necessary training and capacity building and a platform for the convergence of various stakeholders in building partnerships (regional, national and international) for effective management and utilisation of the coastal bio-resources. The interventions include skill and knowledge enhancement, appropriate technologies and widening the options for entrepreneurship for the community.

The Centre has been functioning as a research/ training cum demonstration centre for strengthening and diversifying the existing livelihoods and identifying alternative livelihoods for the fisher families and the coastal communities to add value to the chain from "capture/culture – commercialization - consumption", through a process of learning by doing involving multi-institutional teams and participatory approach of the primary stakeholders - the community and the other stakeholders like the government departments and other organisations like the academic and research institutions, financial and marketing agencies. The programme specifically focuses on women for poverty alleviation and distributional equity under the coastal agro-eco system and with the fisher men/women, fish vendors, fishing labourers and the non-traditional fishermen. The implementation of the activities are of participatory nature involving the entire gamut of stakeholders, comprising of the community members, elected and traditional Panchayat leaders. It is envisaged that the various interventions would bring in the necessary synergy and scale of operations that would create the desired impact.