General Information

Serial #

2025

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Metal, paper and synthetic

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

42.0 cm

Width

37.0 cm

Height

16.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Fisheries

Category

Tools & equipment

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

British Columbia

Period

Mfr'd March 1967

Canada

There is little information available about when Furuno began selling fish-finders and marine navigation equipment to Canadian fishers. The Furuno company history states that Furuno began selling to overseas markets in 1958 and established its American subsidiary in 1978. It is unclear, however, when fish-finders became affordable for smaller fishers, such as the owner-operators in BC’s troll and gillnet fisheries for Pacific salmon. Canada’s Department of Fisheries reported the gillnetters in Rivers Inlet used fish finders in 1960. Certainly by the 1980s, Furuno equipment, especially radars, appeared ubiquitous on Canadian fishing vessels on both coasts. See Wood, F.A. “Rivers Inlet Sockeye.” Fisheries Service Technical Report 7. Vancouver: Canada Department of Fisheries and Forestry, 1970.

Function

A fish finder detects fish underwater using sound waves propagated from a fishing boat on the surface.

Technical

Fish-finding technology—commercially available in 1948—helped accelerate and intensify global fisheries after the Second World War. Fish-finders allowed fishing captains to identify and catch large concentrations of fish, even in adverse conditions. The launching of much larger fishing boats, including factory trawlers that also processed and packaged fish during fishing trips, was another factor in the post-war industrialization of fisheries. Large fishing vessels maximized the catch of dense schools of fish that fish-finders identified. Fish-finding technology was a Japanese innovation. Before the war, Japan had the world’s largest high-seas fishing fleet and companies sprang up to serve it. In 1938, Kiyotaka Furuno founded Furuno Electric Co. Ltd., developing and manufacturing marine navigation tools. In 1948, Furuno introduced the first commercial fish finder. Like depth sounders, fish finders propagate and direct high-frequency sound (or ultrasonic) waves into the water below the boat. If fish are present, these waves will reflect off them and provide a return signal that the fish-finding unit measures and interprets. Larger fish and denser schools of fish will reflect stronger signals. Modern fish-finders represent signals on LCD screens; older units, such as this model, scribed results on a paper plotter.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Embossed on top reads "FURUNO". Mfr's plate inside finder reads "ECHO SOUNDER/ F-861-B MARK II/ DEPTH 12V FREQUENCY 50 kc/ NO. 2025 DATE MAR. 1967/ FURUNO ELECTRIC CO. LTD./ KOBA JAPAN".

Missing

Printer head appears to be missing; other parts unknown.

Finish

Greenish-grey textured painted metal surface with black synthetic knobs and a glass window. Lid is attached to case by two hinges and two latches. Inside of the finder is white graph paper.

Decoration

N/A