Photo courtesy @NorthSaskTrappers, Facebook.
Saskatchewan’s Provincial Fur Specialist says he is encouraged by the fur market prices from this past year.
Over the past few years the wild fur industry has been under stress after many different species were seeing a dip in their average market fur prices.
Provincial Fur Specialist Mike Gollop says previous years have relied on coyote sales to prop-up the market, but now says other fur prices have rebounded.
“The whole fur market was almost being held up by coyotes alone, but now it looks like a number of species are coming back strong, so that is encouraging,” said Gollop.
While Gollop says it is difficult to exactly determine what helped the rebound he does say an increase in buyers from China and Greece helped.
The following is the average market prices from Fur Harvester Auctions in the 2016/2017 trapping season:
Beaver – 6.21
Coyote – 110.63
Fisher- U = too few sold to establish a market price
Fox – 25.21
Lynx – U
Marten – 94.95
Mink – 15.77
Muskrat – 5.56
Otter – U
Squirrel – 1.14
Weasel – 4.11
Wolf – 236.00
Wolverine – 328.0
Gollop noted that a jump in muskrat furs to over $5 dollars was a very beneficial turn for a species that is abundant in northern Saskatchewan and is relatively easy to process.
The Provincial Fur Specialist also says trapper license sales in the province are the highest they have been in 25 years.
“Originally we thought that was being driven by coyotes in the south,” said Gollop. “You would see guys pick-up licenses only when coyote prices are good, but I think there is more to that for sure.”
Upcoming fur auctions include the Fur Harvesters auction on January 8, 2018 and the North American Fur Auction on February 26, 2018.