The fisher is a large forest mustelid that was extirpated from much of its range by trapping and logging, with recovery programmes in some states having mixed success amid ongoing trapping pressure.
Fisher welfare is significantly affected by fur trapping, which remains legal in most of their range. Trapping causes acute pain and prolonged stress before death or rescue. Leg-hold and body-gripping traps can cause severe injury. Reintroduced fisher populations in the Pacific Northwest face ongoing trapping pressure from legacy regulations not designed around recovery needs. Loss of old-growth forest denning sites limits reproductive success and forces fishers into suboptimal younger forest. Poisoned rodenticides used in illegal cannabis grows in California forests have killed fishers through secondary poisoning. Addressing all these threats simultaneously is necessary for meaningful welfare improvement.