"By the early 1900s, particularly in the southern part of the original range, the loss of forests through logging, fire, and settlement reduced the number of fishers. This habitat loss, along with unregulated trapping and the use of strychnine for harvesting and predator control, severely reduced or eliminated fisher from much of their readily accessible range." "The fisher is a frequently reintroduced furbearer, and Berg (1982) reported 19 fisher translocations between 1955 and 1981…several more occurred in the 1980’s." "The results of only a few introductions have been published", and so it is difficult to determine which methods work the best, and what time of year is the best time to release fishers so they stay in the area they are released. p. 197

The object of this study was to determine the best time of year to release fishers for them to stay in the release area, and March and June were the two times they chose to test. The release method in this study was as follows: "The fishers were kept at the sites for three to five days in their respective nest box and connecting wire-mesh holding pen. Within a group, adult females were released one day before the males in the hopes that they would scent-mark the grounds and draw the males toward their vicinity. Males were released between female release sites. Beaver meat was kept in the next box during the week following the release of the animals. In March, four more beaver carcasses were left near each nest box in an attempt to keep the fishers in the vicinity." P. 200

"Fisher reintroduction programs are expensive, and one needs to carefully determine where and when they must be carried out." P. 202

"The long-distance movements of March-released fishers may well have been related to breeding…did not allow sufficient time for the development of home ranges before the long-distance movements associated with breeding. These long movements may also have been related to exploration of unfamiliar environment, at a time of the year when the vegetation cover is reduced and food sources are limited." "In June, there was a dense canopy and abundant food sources, such as fruits, small mammals, birds, eggs and frogs. Furthermore, the animals were not searching for mates. Perhaps for these reasons, the fishers remained in the release area…Of course, in future breeding seasons, these animals will move about in search of mates. By then, however, the animals will have established home ranges.