John Curran
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 21, 2008

COLVILLE LAKE - Prices are expected to remain steady for NWT pelts sold bearing the government-operated Genuine Mackenzie Valley Furs label this year.

Sydney Oudzi of Colville Lake displays some of the marten he and his brother George harvested and sold during the 2005-06 trapping season. - photo courtesy of Glen Guthrie

According to Fur Harvesters Auction Inc., the government's fur marketing partner, demand and prices paid for NWT marten will remain in line with 2007.

At the May 2007 auction in North Bay, Ont., Northern marten prices averaged $76.15 - roughly $20 better than the national average. Top NWT marten pelts, also referred to as sable in the south, were fetching a whopping $144.16 each last year.

"Because our species of choice is marten, that represents more than $1 million to our economy annually," said Francois Rossouw, who handles part of the fur marketing and traditional economy file for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

The main sale for NWT fur will happen Feb. 17 in Seattle, Washington.

"I'm being told that we'll be within five per cent of last year's average price," he said.

For trappers, that's good news as they'll likely be able to expect a bonus cheque on top of the $65 they're paid initially by wildlife officers.

Other species expected to stay strong this year include lynx, timber and Arctic wolves, wolverine, fox, mink as well as polar, grizzly and black bear.

"Lynx should go for about $200 to $240 a piece, it's quite popular," he said. "Wolves and wolverine from the NWT will go for good prices if the furs are good specimens and they are prepared well."

The lone species expected to perhaps struggle at auction this year is muskrat.

"A large carry-over remains at auction from last season," reads a market forecast report issued by the auction house. "Prices have returned to previous lower levels."

The report also points to cold weather thus far this winter in Russia and China - two of the key fur-buying nations globally - as positives for the industry.

"Expect an overall improvement in prices this season."

The sale in the U.S. is expected to attract about 250 buyers with about 100 of those coming from China, added Rossouw.

In 2007, there were slightly fewer than 800 trappers actively selling furs to territorial buyers. That represented an increase of about 100 from the year prior.

"Prices drive the interest," said Rossouw. "When people see there's good money in trapping, they pile back in."

The Canadian loonie's push to parity with the U.S. dollar will hurt a little, he added, but the effect shouldn't be too serious.

"All fur sales are in U.S. dollars," he said. "So it'll amount to a few dollars less per skin after the currency exchange."

In the NWT's smaller communities, particularly those with no other full-time industrial activity, trapping remains a key employment opportunity, he said.

"In Colville Lake, for example, some of our best trappers live there."

For the year ahead, Rossouw said it's a great time to be involved in the industry.

"Get out there and trap - it's a very healthy activity," he said. "And take your kid or your neighbour's kid with you."

It's important for today's trappers to remember they learned their skills by watching their elders out on the land, he added.

"Besides, everybody can use a helper out there."

That's something Colville Lake resident Gene Oudzi has always understood and tried to do. It has been a while since he made much money from trapping - he now works for the Department of Public Works and Services and ran the Co-op for eight years before that - but his family relies heavily on their trapline and the marten they harvest each year.

"My sons Sydney (12) and George (29) and George's son Jerret (8) spend a lot of time out working their trapline," he said. "They've got about 200 marten so far this season."

His eldest son George is also a heavy equipment operator, so thanks to trapping he can earn a good living year round.

"He can work construction, for the oil and gas companies or on his trapline depending on the season," he said. "It's important to be flexible - groceries are very expensive and we haven't had many caribou around Colville this year."

Teaching the next generation about traditional skills is something Oudzi continues to do today. He and his 15-year-old son Charlie did a day trip earlier this year.

"We did OK," he said. "We got maybe 20 or so marten."