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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

TRAPPING

Another drop in pelt registrations; trapper effort down

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 12/22/16

REGIONAL— Northeastern Minnesota trappers registered record low numbers of fisher and marten following the completion of the six-day season that ended Dec. 1. The Nov. 18 snowstorm combined with …

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TRAPPING

Another drop in pelt registrations; trapper effort down

Posted

REGIONAL— Northeastern Minnesota trappers registered record low numbers of fisher and marten following the completion of the six-day season that ended Dec. 1. The Nov. 18 snowstorm combined with low fur prices appear to have reduced trapper effort, according to Tom Rusch, Tower DNR area wildlife manager. Indeed, the number of trappers registering furs dropped sharply, particularly in the Hibbing and Eveleth areas, where trapper numbers dropped by half.

But marten and fisher registrations were off even more in those areas. Trappers registered just 11 fisher in Eveleth and 18 in Hibbing, compared to 32 and 42 respectively in 2015.

Trapper numbers were off by a third in Tower, and fur registrations were down even more. Trappers registered just 94 marten in Tower, compared to 149 last year, along with ten fisher, down from 19 last year. In 2012, by contrast, trappers registered 205 marten and 47 fisher in Tower. The declines in fisher numbers have been the most pronounced, although declining trapper effort appears to account for much of the decline.

While reduced trapper effort undoubtedly contributed to some of the harvest decline this year, Rusch sees the lack of adequate nesting cavities for these species, particularly fisher, as part of the problem.

Ongoing research by DNR biologist John Erb has documented that fisher are particularly dependent on nest cavities in large aspen, which research has shown make up three-quarters of the nesting sites for these large members of the weasel family. Marten are less dependent on large aspen, as research has shown they more often use cavities in white cedar or underground burrows to sleep or raise young.

DNR officials had hoped that marten and fisher populations would recover when the agency slashed the trapping season for those two predators from 16 days to just six days a few years ago. The agency also reduced the bag limit on the two species from five to just two.

But Rusch said the fisher population has not responded to the lower harvest levels, and he suspects intensive forest management, particularly in the fisher’s prime territory in northcentral Minnesota may be part of the problem. Fisher have long been less common on the Canadian Shield, where poor soil conditions have generally limited the growth of large aspen. “Fishers need big cavities for nesting,” said Rusch. “We think the lack of big aspen may be playing a role.” Shorter rotations, particularly for aspen, could be creating a shortage of nursery trees, said Rusch.

Both fisher and marten populations may also be suffering from predation from a growing population of bobcat in the region. While both fisher and marten are aggressive predators themselves, they are both subject to predation from bobcat, which have been steadily expanding into northeastern Minnesota in recent years.

Trappers also registered far fewer otter and bobcat this year, although those numbers may still increase during a second registration session set for 3-6 p.m., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at Tower, Eveleth, and Hibbing.