Turnor Lake trapper Ron Desjardin getting the best prices for his furs. Photo courtesy @NorthSaskTrappers, Facebook.
The wild fur industry is still under stress, with limited markets for most pelts.
North American Fur Auctions held its spring sale this week with mixed results.
Larger sized otter were selling well with rising prices, mainly to buyers in China. Beaver saw good sales of better quality pelts. There was a big demand on wild mink, while muskrat saw price resistance and was pulled from the sale.
Over the past year, prices for wild pelts are up. The average price for otter is about $50.00, up more than 70 per cent from a year ago. Beaver pelts were selling at an average of $15.78, up 40 per cent, while the average wild mink price was about $16.00 a pelt, up 48 per cent from last year.
Muskrat pelts were selling for $3.60 a year ago, but demand has been so poor this year, they were withdrawn from the auction.
North American Fur Auctions has nearly 350,000 muskrat pelts in its inventory.