Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 29/02) - The Northwest Territories government has doubled the guaranteed price for first class seal pelts.

The GNWT also introduced pelt-grading similar to the system Nunavut adopted earlier this year.

That means life is sweet for Holman seal Hunter David Kuptana. NT hunters will now take at least $60 for a first class pelt, $45 for good pelts and $30 for poor skins.

"My friends were telling me they heard we'd be getting good prices," said Kuptana. "We were excited. We're all hoping there's lots of seals this year."

Kuptana said first class pelts aren't hard to come by -- especially a little later in the season. Late July through September is considered prime seal hunting season.

"The good ones are a little later," said Kuptana. "But the young ones right now have really nice fur."

Fur prices haven't been this high since the mid-'80s. After that, the anti-fur movement wrecked havoc on the market.

But demand is way up again and Kuptana says his family can use the extra income.

"The power bills are going up, we've got to pay phone bills, grocery bills, pay for the t.v. dish," he said. "This will help."

The Northwest Territories primarily sells skins through the Fur Harvesters Auction in North Bay.

According to Tim Devine, manager of Wildlife and Fisheries in Inuvik, demand is coming mostly from Europe.

He said the Northwest Territories produces between 800 and 1,000 pelts a year. Given the excellent prices, he expects this number to start rising.

Nunavut sells between 6,000 to 7,000 pelts a year at the North Bay auction.

Larry Simpson is the senior advisor for fisheries and sealing at the department of Sustainable Development in Nunavut. He said the Government of Nunavut introduced a grading system with price ranges between $25 and $60 this year in order to link quality with price.

Nunavut produced a video on grading and supplied it to the NT. Then the NT adopted a similar system.

Before this year, the Nunavut government paid a flat rate of $30 for each pelt.

"We actually made money last year, which was embarrassing for the government," said Simpson.

The Nunavut government has since given last year's additional profits back hunters and will do the same this year if prices exceed guaranteed rates.