Despite the ban on the sale of contaminated fish, there was still widespread suspicion amongst local people that fish caught in the Minamata area was unsafe and by June 1959 several fish shops had gone out of business from plummeting demand. Desperate, and with no assistance from government, the cooperative was forced into direct negotiations with the company. On 6 August 400 members of the cooperative marched on the factory and in a hostile atmosphere met with factory manager Eiichi Nishida. The fishermen's demand for the cleanup of Minamata Bay, the installation of wastewater treatment facilities and JPY100 million (USD278,000) was met with an offer of "emergency sympathy money" to the value of JPY500,000 (USD1,390) and a promise to consult with the company's head office in Tokyo.