The provincial government has released last year’s trapping statistics.
According to the numbers Saskatchewan trappers sold one million, eight hundred and eighty-two thousand dollars worth of pelts in 2010-2011.
That’s up substantially from the year before when just 1.1 million dollars worth of pelts were sold.
Provincial fur and problem wildlife specialist Mike Gollop says better prices were a big reason for the increase.
“Well I guess comparing to the immediate past year it was a tremendous improvement. Even though the number of pelts marketed was just about exactly the same it was almost twice the return this year compared to last. I think that’s mainly due to a significant increase in the price for lynx and marten.”
Some of the notable differences between 2010-2011 and the previous year was in the price for coyote pelts.
Last year trappers sold eight hundred and thirty thousand dollars worth of pelts while in the previous year they sold just three hundred and ninety-five thousand.
They also sold one hundred and fourteen thousand dollars worth of muskrats compared to just 82 thousand the year before.
Meantime the president of the Northern Saskatchewan Trappers Association says he isn’t overly concerned that the number of licensed trappers in the province is down .
Last year there were just over twenty-seven hundred licensed trappers in Saskatchewan.
That’s down from a few years ago when the number was thirty-two hundred.
Trappers president Clifford Ray says the number of trappers has gone up and down before due to fluctuations in price.
He says one of the problems facing harvesters right now is the cost of doing business.
“And like everything else in Canada it’s at an all-time low but trapping was always in a dilemma. 80 years and nobody tried anything for the trappers. It’s them (trappers) that continue to pay for their license, it’s them that continue to pay for their habitat fees and so forth.”
Ray adds many trappers also have to deal with a growing amount of red tape which can make things tough.