Spring NAFA Auction. Photo courtesy of furtraders.ca
It is getting more and more difficult for Saskatchewan trappers to make a living.
Trappers are harvesting the same amount of animals, but they are getting far less for their efforts. Wild fur prices have dropped anywhere from 27 to 89 per cent over the last three years.
The only fur that has shown an increase is timber wolf with an average pelt price of $189.00, which is up 38 per cent from 2013. Coyote pelts are still in demand, and fetching a price of about $89.00, which is about the same as 2013.
Prices take a tumble for animals like beaver, mink, otter, fox, fisher and marten. These prices are based on results from North American Fur Auctions, which hold three auctions a year.
Here is a detailed price breakdown based on sales from the spring of 2013 to the spring of 2016:
Fisher – $48.00 – down 76%
Marten – $66.00 – down 42%
Beaver – $12.50 – down 49%
Otter – $28.00 – down 78%
Coyote Heavy Pelt – $89.00 – unchanged from 2013.
Lynx Cat – $341.00 – down 27%
Red Fox – $12.23 – down 89%
Timber Wolf – $189.00 – up 38%
Mink – $10.00 – down 78%
Wild fur is sold on a world market, with most of the buyers coming from Europe, China and Russia.
North American Fur Auctions has been selling pelts for more than 300 years. It was first known as the Hudson Bay Company. HBC operated out of London, England, Montreal, New York and Toronto from 1670 until 1992. After that, it became North American Fur Auctions.
It holds three to four auctions a year and is one of the world’s largest auction houses for wild fur.
There are about 2500 trappers in Saskatchewan, almost all of them are in the province’s north.