Incorporated in Newfoundland in 1992 by Brad Henderson, Notus Electronics Ltd is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Back then the company’s goal was to develop hydroacoustic equipment for the commercial fishing industry. Despite the once great Northern cod stock being called into moratorium, the company survived that challenge and 20 years later Notus is thriving by staying focused on its products and customers.
In 1992, the local industry was changing but there were still opportunities,” and over the first number of years, a sophisticated transponder based wireless technology was developed. “This pure transponder based system was completely new to the fishing industry,” said Mr Henderson. A commercial product was ready after many years in development.
Notus started to focus on the European fisheries due to their high adaption of technology and, later on, markets were developed in the USA, Asia, and New Zealand. Today, Notus has branch offices in the United Kingdom and Spain. Its products are sold and serviced to almost every major fishery in the world via a very active distributor network.
Notus systems started off very basic, but Mr Henderson says, “Today, Notus systems are much more advanced with 24 sensors currently being offered. Today, on a trawl, Notus measures parameters like trawl wire length, doorspread, door angle, bottom contact, height, depth, temperature, catch, etc. Likewise, sensors for a seiner can measure depth, corkline/leadline alignment, sink rate and temperature.”
Mr Henderson attributes Notus’s success to the company’s customers, along with the increased focus of fuel reduction and quality coupled with proven pay periods of less than a year.
“Of course the fishery has always had its issues. However, people will always eat fish. That means there will always be opportunities for companies like Notus. We are extremely excited about the next 20 years!” he concludes.
