Species-Specific Management (SSM)

Fishers

The fisher (Martes pennati) was once abundant in the western part of Virginia before the European settlements. There have not been significant numbers of fishers in Virginia since 1890. There have been occasional sightings of fishers in Giles County, probably due to migration of fishers that were reintroduced into West Virginia in 1969. The main reasons for the decline in fishers are the decline of large spruce-pine stands and the absence of porcupines.

There is little hope for increasing the population of fishers, since Virginia lacks large, contiguous patches of spruce-pine forest and a major food item, porcupines. Fishers require porcupines where heavy competition exists for other prey such as squirrels, snowshoe hares, other small mammals, and ruffed grouse. Virginia has well-established populations of foxes, hawks, bobcats, and weasels, all of which may be able to outcompete the fisher for these foods. Therefore managing fishers in Virginia will be difficult, and the costs will probably outweigh the benefits derived. If management was to be attempted, these things should be considered.

1. Education to dispel myths about fishers (e.g., "that the vicious giant mink kills housecats and small dogs by day and night", or that "the fisher is a danger to children"). Techniques may be: popular articles in magazines, newspaper articles, or pamphlets and flyers.
2. Fishers prefer an area of at least 60 to 500 square miles, and this habitat must be a contiguous patch of forest. Cover is the main characteristic of all habitats preferred by fishers. They favor a high canopy closure of 80% to 100%. Fishers should be managed to a density of 1 per 1.6 square miles in a well-preferred habitat and 1 per 7.3 square miles in a less-preferred habitat.
3. Elevation is an important characteristic for fisher habitat. Fishers seem to favor high elevations, but those below 3000 feet in the northern states.
4. The favorite habitat trees (in order of preference) are:

   spruce, fir, cedar, pine, hardwood

   (but they are more commonly found in a spruce-pine mixed forest.)

5. Prescribed burns may reduce hardwoods and encourage pines or desirable conifers in some areas.
6. The animals must be protected from:
   • Trapping (within northern areas, fishers are trapped for their fur)
   • Clearcutting (fishers avoid nonforested areas)
   • Uncontrolled ground fires (such fires destroy snags where fishers make their dens. The snags are habitats for small mammals,upon which fishers feed.)
7. Retain and preserve snags since fishers den in snags.
8. Increase populations of squirrels, snowshoe hares, and other small mammals, since these are important food items for fishers.
9. Encourage fruiting shrubs since fishers feed on berries during the spring.
10. Inform the public that if they see a fisher they should report when and where they saw it to their nearest wildlife agency.

See references (2005)

Aubry, K.B.; Lewis, J.C. 2003. Extirpation and reintroduction offishers (Martes pennanti) in -®on: implications for their conservation in the Pacific States. Biological Conservation. 114: 79-90.

Aubry, K.B.; Raley, C.M. 2002. Ecological characteristics of fishers in the southern Oregon Cascade Range; final report. On file with: K. Aubry, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 3625 SW 93rd Ave., Olympia, WA 98512.

Aubry, K.B.; Wisley, S.M.; Raley, C.M.; Buskirk, S.W. 2004. Zoogeography, spacing patterns, and dispersal in fishers: insights gained from combining field and genetic data. In: Harrison, D.J; Fuller, A.K.; Proulx, G., eds. Martens and fishers (Martes) in human-altered environments: an international perspective. New York: Springer Academic Publishers: 211-230.

Drew, R.E.; Hallett, J.G.; Aubry, K.B.; Cullings, KW.; Koepf, S.M.; Zielinski, W.l 2003. Conservation genetics of the fisher (Martes pennanti) based on mitochondrial DNA sequencing. Molecular Ecology. 12: 51-62.

Wisely, S.M.; Buskirk, SW.; Russell, G.A.; Aubry, K.B.; Zielinski, Wl 2004. Phylogeography and genetic diversity of the fisher (Martes pennanti) in a one-dimensional stepping-stone metapopulation. Journal of Mammalogy. 85: 640-648.

A contribution by Marc R. Petersen (1992) and
Richard P. Panuska,
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences,
Virginia Polytechnic and State University,
Blacksburg, VA 20401-0321

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision January 17, 2000.