"Many of the previously unpublished data in this chapter are from our study of over 6,000 trapper-caught fisher carcasses in the Algonquin Region of south-central Ontario from 1972 to 1985." P.511

"By the early 1900s, particularly in the southern part of their original range, the removal of forests through logging, fire, and settlement reduced the fisher’s occurence. This habitat loss, along with trapping and the use of strychnine as a harvest and predator control method, severely reduced or eliminated fishers from much of their readily accessible range. Protective legislation, habitat improvement, and reintroductions into areas where the species had been extirpated have since resulted in the restoration of viable fisher populations throughout much of their primordial range." P.512

[There is a list of where reintroductions have taken place and where the animals originated on pages 513-513.]

Fisher’s "choice of habitat is probably governed mostly by food availability, but other factors, such as large areas of continuous overhead cover and the availability of denning sites, are also important. Although largely untested, optimal conditions…include: more than 50% closure of the tree canopy; an average dbh of overstory trees of more than 25 cm (10 inches); two or more stories in the tree canopy; and an overstory of more than 50% deciduous trees." "Severe and extensive disturbances of the forest by logging or fire may seriously reduce its habitat value, especially during winter, this is probably because it does not provide adequate overhead cover and permits a greater accumulation of ground-level snow. Less severe disturbances may improve habitat values by increasing the density of prey and the number of den sites." "In addition to maternal dens, which are found most often in large deciduous trees, fisher use a variety of temporary shelters and resting sites such as hollow loges and tree cavities, brushpiles, rockpiles, burrows and dens of other animals, and snow dens." P. 518

After citing references that promote the idea that fishers are cyclic, and others that they were not, Douglas and Strickland state that "The whole question as to whether or not fisher populations are cyclic, and if so why, requires further investigation." P.519

"By trapping early and limiting the catch through the quota system (permissible harvest per trapper), the harvest will be composed largely of nonreproducing juvenile animals and will avoid, to the greatest possible degree, the reproductive segment of the population. Therefore the trapping season should begin as soon as the fur is of an acceptable primeness, usually by late October, and before natural factors reduce the abundance of juveniles." P. 523

"Having a majority of juvenile animals in the catch would not result in an inordinate income loss for the trappers." p.524

"We believe that fishers are highly susceptible to excessive trapping and that care must be taken to preclude overharvesting…only well-established and wide-spread fisher populations should be trapped."" P 524

"…Harvesting more than about 20% of the pretrapping population caused the [Algonquin] population to decline and…a harvest rate of about 15-20% of the pretrapping population gave it stability." Because fecundity varies according to the area, trapping different proportions of the pretrapping population will give decline or stability. P.525

"We believe that if transfer programs are undertaken during late winter, when females are nearing term, the females are more likely to den close to the release site and bear their young in that area…release sites should be saturated with food such as deer and beaver carcasses. A "slow" release method, in which the animal is held for several days at the release site to accustom it to the new surroundings, has been used for martens and may be useful in encouraging fishers to remain at the release site. Care must be taken to ensure that local trappers and the public fully support livetrapping and transfer programs and that they will take every precaution to avoid capturing reintroduced animals at least until a reproducing population is established. Because fishers are extremely vulnerable to trapping, it may be wise to close the area to all dryland trapping until the population is well established. The success of the transfer, and whether it has resulted in a reproducing population, should be evaluated. Refuges closed to all trapping may provide the foci from which the population will spread into adjacent areas." P.526

"Through closed seasons, controlled harvests, and reintroductions, the fisher is now present throughout most of its primordial range wherever adequate habitat still exists." P.526