(CA with CN connection) Fw: Trapping a labour of love

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Tuesday, January 9, 2001

Trapping a labour of love

Fur business hopes for rebound after long decline

By STEVE PROCTOR -- Halifax Herald

TRURO, N.S. -- Lloyd Duncanson has given up trying to figure out how much

he spends on gasoline to tend his trapline each year.

 

The retired taxidermist with the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History

used to keep meticulous track of the expense, but with rising fuel costs and

flat fur prices over the past two years he's decided it's better not to

know.

 

" No trapper is ever going to get rich in this province, but it would be

nice to break even, " said the Grand Pre resident. " You have to do it because

you love it. "

 

But love won't put dinner on the table for many of Nova Scotia's 1,500

trappers, who catch raccoon, muskrat, rabbit, fox or coyote to supplement

their income.

 

As a result, the number of trapping licences issued by the province has

dropped more than 20 per cent in the last two years.

 

" People have just gotten out of it, " said Duncanson, a member of the Nova

Scotia Trappers Association. " Even those who are still active are not going

very far because the payback isn't worth it. "

 

However, a spokesman for one of North America's largest fur auction houses

says there's light on the horizon. Fur prices are finally beginning to

climb.

 

" We're seeing the beginning of what we hope is the start of a long-term

improvement in fur prices, " said Bob McQuay of North American Fur Auctions.

" Fur is becoming more fashionable at the retail level again. "

 

New markets in China, the Russian economic recovery and an early winter

that prompted brisk pre-Christmas sales in North America combined to clear

out almost two years' worth of inventory that was helping depress prices,

McQuay said.

 

Auction is the main method of selling fur, with most of Canada's wild fur

sold at one of three auction houses. This age-old tradition is a perfect

model of market economy, in which supply and demand establish price levels

for each fur type.

 

Most trappers ship their harvest to an auction house, where fur

technicians grade pelts according to colour, size, weight and sex of the

animal. Pelts are tagged to ensure trappers are paid.

 

EXPERTS HOPE RECENT PRICE INCREASES WILL CONTINUE

Doug Pollock, vice-chairman of the Fur Institute of Canada, said prices

are much better than last year. At a December sale in North Bay, Ont., an

average good-quality beaver pelt jumped 20 per cent to $31.62. Mink was up

10 per cent to $20.99 and raccoon prices jumped 40 per cent.

 

" Raccoon is a major species and in previous years it just wasn't moving

because the Russians and Greeks were just not buying, " Pollock said Monday.

" Two to three years ago the problems with the Russian ruble were so severe

the buyers just didn't show up. "

 

Eastern European buyers are back and new buyers from China are showing up

in record numbers, he said. Ninety-six per cent of fur at the North Bay sale

was sold. " There is consensus that as the Chinese economy grows prices will

get even better, " said Pollock.

 

Fox, coyote and raccoon are especially popular as trim on the collars and

hoods of high-fashion apparel this year. China is buying unprecedented

amounts of North American mink and beaver.

 

While recovering sales could mean the re-emergence of anti-fur protests,

McQuay said he's not overly concerned. Since many protesters have behaved

" more like terrorists than conservationists, " he said their efforts have

lost public credibility.

 

A big concern he sees for the future is the aging trapper population. Most

trappers are older and very few young people are taking their place as they

retire.

 

Duncanson said soaring gas costs and flat fur prices give young people

little incentive to enter the industry. Unless the situation can be turned

around, it's possible there could be great fur prices five years down the

road but no one to supply pelts.

 

He said his group tries to entice young people to start trapping but finds

the competition with video games and cable TV daunting.

 

" It's getting to be a lot of grey-haired, long-in-the-tooth old guys and

it's a shame. "

 

http://www.canoe.com/CNEWSFeatures0101/09_trapping-par.html