Spotlight: JW Fishers’ underwater search equipment shortens first responders’ rescue efforts

Company name: JW Fishers Mfg
Email: info@jwfishers.com

1. Where did your company name originate from?
The founder, Jack Wesley Fisher, named the company after his own name (JW Fishers)

2. What was the inspiration behind starting your company?
Jack Fisher started the company in the late 1960s after realizing that an affordable metal detector was needed in the diving industry. This initial product started the business and, over 55 years later, JW Fishers has developed into a global producer of an entire line of underwater search equipment.

3. What is your signature product and how does it work?
Law enforcement, fire rescue, public safety and dive rescue teams mostly use our sonar products, ROVs and handheld metal detectors to locate missing persons, missing evidence and dumped vehicles.

4. Why do you believe your products are essential to the FireRescue community?
Our gear is designed to mitigate divers’ risks of being underwater for long lengths of time all the while providing teams with the right tool for the job.

5. What has been the biggest challenge your company has faced?
In 55 years, JW Fishers has seen the industry evolve. Competitors have come into the market and left the market. The company has seen recessions, depressions and global conflicts, all of which have an effect on demand. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe and it dramatically shifted market conditions and global supply chains. Parts have become more and more difficult to get and lead times are historical in nature, but we have seen it all and continue to find ways to overcome the odds. JW Fishers is here to stay!

6. What makes your company unique?
JW Fishers are specialists in the design and manufacture of underwater search systems. Fishers’ offers the widest array of search products in the industry under one brand. The product line includes handheld and boat-towed metal detectors, marine magnetometers, video systems, side scan sonars, sub bottom profilers and scanning sonar. An extensive line of underwater cameras is offered that includes ROVs, towed video systems, drop video systems, diver-held cameras and mini cameras. Added to the array of products are acoustic pingers and receivers, sonar transponder and interrogators, and a cable tracking system.

7. What do your customers like best about you and your products? Our attention to customer service and personal relationships with customers now and in the past 50 years is unparalleled in the industry. Every customer is important and gets the same treatment as everyone else.

8. What is the most rewarding part of serving the first responder community?
The most fulfilling aspect of JW Fishers products is knowing that our tools are used to help locate missing people and giving families closure. Our gear is also used to find missing evidence and solve crimes that otherwise would not be solved. JW Fishers’ gear also makes the job of the public safety dive teams faster and safer, allowing for minimal time underwater.

9.Do you support any charitable organizations within public safety/community? We contribute to local police and fire departments and provide assistance to customers in any way possible.

10. Is there any fun fact or trivia that you’d like to share about you or your company?
Our underwater metal detector, the Pulse 8X, was rated #1 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security against eight other detectors on the market. Our equipment has been featured in many Hollywood movies and multiple times on the Discovery Channel. The most “romantic” part of our equipment is that it has been used to find lost treasures across the globe, such as gold coins, bracelets, rings and silver.

11. What’s next for your company? Any upcoming new projects or initiatives?
We are constantly working on updating our current platform and designing new products with the help of customer feedback