YELLOWKNIFE - Prices for almost all Nunavut and NWT pelts were down at the Fur Harvesters auction held last week in Seattle, Wash.

The only high points were recent records paid for timber wolf and wolverine, said Jim Gibb, of Fur Harvesters Auction Inc.

Cambridge Bay elder Lena Kamayok proudly displays a pair of wolverine pelts she prepared and sold for $400 each at the Kitikmeot Trade Show earlier this month. With auction prices dropping, selling furs locally to visiting tourists is becoming more profitable for many Northerners. - John Curran/NNSL photo Average prices 2006 2007 Fisher $106.12 $82.60 Lynx $159.56 $163.73 Marten $115.55 $67.27 Mink $29.07 $15.79 Muskrat $6.62 $6.78

Wolf went for an average price of $142.36, with the top pelt fetching $429.64.

One hundred per cent of the wolverine up for auction was sold at an average price of $236.88. The top specimen sold for $476.09.

Northern trappers will be disappointed with the results of marten sales, after a record-setting 2006. Marten averaged $115.55 last year, but dropped to $67.27 this year. The top price was just $156.76, compared to $233.70 in 2006.

Brokers from Alaska, Russia, China, and Germany were in attendance at the auction.

"Overall I am happy, but I was a little disappointed with the beaver and muskrat prices," said Gibb.

All told, 200,000 pelts were up for auction and 170,000 were sold, although he couldn't say how many of those were from the NWT and Nunavut.

"The next grading process begins in earnest on April 1," said Gibb. He expects there will be more Nunavut pelts, including sealskin, in the next auction on May 27-28.

Hunter Jimmy Haniliak, from Cambridge Bay, said, "the hunt was very good this year."

He harvested one wolverine before Christmas and a wolf before the New Year.

Haniliak is in the process of drying the pelts, and if they look good, he will sell them. If the pelts are only decent, he will make mitts out of them.

Last year he sold a large wolf pelt locally for $450. He said that he rarely sends out pelts, as he hunts for the elders.

"My hunting has cut down to half due to a hike in gas prices," he added.

He estimates that a day trip on his snow machine costs between $150 and $175. Nevertheless, hunting still remains profitable for Haniliak.

At 53 years old, he has been hunting since he was just five. It is an essential part of his life, as his daily diet consists largely of caribou and fish.

"As long as I am able to walk and I have equipment that's running, I will be hunting," he said.