JW Fishers Mfg.

In 1971 JW Fishers began manufacturing underwater metal detectors for recreational scuba divers. The company quickly gained recognition for making rugged, reliable instruments that were easy to operate. Demand for their products grew and commercial diving companies and police departments began asking for other types of underwater search equipment. In the late 70’s Fishers expanded their product line to include boat-towed detectors, video systems, and ROVs. As their knowledge in these technologies grew, the company expanded its R&D into sonar. At the time side scan sonar was mainly in use by the energy industry and military, but the greatest demand was in the commercial market, by public safety dive teams and law enforcement agencies. As computers became smaller and more capable, they allowed development of powerful, low cost sonar systems. Today Fishers offers three side scan systems employing the most commonly required frequencies, 100K, 600K, and 1200K. Low frequency provides long range but lower resolution, high frequency gives the highest resolution but shortest range, and the middle frequency provides an optimal combination of both. Without these technologies the only way to find things lost in the ocean is to send a diver down. Using Fishers equipment search time is significantly decreased, diver safety increases, costs are reduced, and success rates of finding drowning victims, sunken vessels, submerged vehicles, downed aircraft, and a variety of other targets are dramatically improved.