New study launched to examine elusive fisher population

The province has decided it needs to learn more about one of its most mysterious living creatures.

A new study on the rarely seenand elusivefisher is launching this fall.

The large memberof the weasel family is managed and trapped in New Brunswick. The province is now requiringcarcasses from those harvested animalsto be turned infor study at the end of the trapping season.

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"Fishers are one of ourspecies that are of a special management concern," said Jonathan Cormier, the province's furbearer biologist. "They have a low reproductive potential relative to other furbearers and they are easilyoverharvested."

Numbers may be declining

The study has been prompted by aconcern that their numbers may be in decline.

"The harvest has been declining overthe pastseveral years," saidCormier. "But that does not mean that thepopulationis declining as well. There could be other factors as well, weather could have an impact, or effort by trappers."

Cormier said fishers, which command a relatively high pelt price, have been overharvested in the past.

Data will be collected and recorded from eachcarcass,including sex and location of harvest. Teeth willalsobe collected and sent to a lab in the United States in order to gain an age approximation of each individual.

Similar process as with three other species

The process is similarto that already carried out for three other species also managed and trapped in New Brunswick.

"We've had to turn in bobcat, martin, and otter carcasses in the pastand stilldopresently," said Mitchell Schriver, the vice-president of the NewBrunswick Trapperand Fur Harvester Federation. "This year we do have to turn in the fisher carcassesfor the biological study.And that helps everyone."

Apopulationestimate will give wildlife managers an idea of how many fishers can be harvested in a given season withoutdamagingthepopulation, as well where in the province fishers are found in low numbers.

"They are elusive," said Cormier. "They may see you, but you won't see them."

Cormier said male fishers can be up to four feet long, including the tail. They're large enough that people often mistake them for cougars.

The value of the New Brunswick fur harvest has plummeted in recent years. The 2015/2016 season was recorded as a 24-year low for the industry due to lower demands from the largest consumers ofCanadianfur, Russia and China.

"Fur prices have been down," said Cormier. "Which causes a lot of trappers to keep their gear at home instead of out in the woods.So,I just want to be sure that this decline in harvest is due to possible trapping pressure, or is weather related as opposed to something biological."

In the 2014/2015 season a total of 467 fisher pelts were exported at a value of $86.28 each.

Last season New Brunswick exported 375 pelts that saw a drastic decline in value to $52.50, a drop of about 40 per cent according to lastyear'sNew Brunswick furbearer harvest report.