How the fisher got named fisher, and the otter got named otter is beyond me. It would seem the otter, an animal whose diet is mostly fish, should be named fisher…but it’s not. Instead the fisher, a terrestrial weasel that is sleek and colored like an otter but fluffier and feeds mostly on squirrels, mice and birds, is named…fisher.
It’s actually one of the few mammals that knows how to effectively hunt porcupines. Maybe it should have been named…porcupiner. Jokes aside, an odd name and unique diet aren’t the only things that make this species special.
Fishers are forest dwellers and their presence is often an indicator of quality mature or old growth forests. The fisher was once found in most forests from Virginia to northern Canada and throughout the great forested mountain ranges of the Rockies. However, over-harvesting of fisher for their thick warm fur throughout the 1900’s, along with loss of habitat, pushed the species toward extinction, and fisher began to disappear from North American forests.
In the forests of Washington, Oregon and California fisher populations declined drastically. It is estimated that less than 4000 individuals remain. The species was completely wiped out from Washington by about 1950. Efforts to reintroduce the species in Washington are proving successful. In 2020, it was determined that fishers that remained in Oregon and California were distinct from other populations. It was further determined that there were two “Distinct Population Segments.” One population in the southern Sierra Nevadas, which is restricted to high elevation coniferous forests, is estimated to be just 250 individuals. This population was listed as Endangered in 2020. The other population found in the Northern Sierra Nevada and Southern Oregon Cascades was also being considered for listing due to its low population size and continued threats to its habitat.
However, on Friday, August 22nd, 2025 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would not list the Northern California-Southern Oregon population, which sits at between 2,500 and 4,000. It is a missed opportunity to better support a unique species that is suffering from habitat loss, changing weather, and, according to the agency, rodenticides used by illegal cannabis sites.
