Trapping season begins as desire for fur drops among usual buyers

As New Brunswick trappers gear up foranother season in the woods, they're facing some of the lowest prices for pelts in decades.

The total value of thefur harvest fell to a 24-year low last season, according to the New Brunswick furbearer harvest report for 2015-2016.

"Fur is a commodity," said Mitchell Schriver,vice-presidentof the New Brunswick Trappers and Fur Harvesters Federation.

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"And fursfluctuatewith theeconomiesof the world."

Schriver said thetwo largest fur markets in the world, China and Russia, just don't have theappetitefor fur right now.

"Russia's economy has been in the pits for a few years and that's really hurting it," said Scriver.

"And China hasn't been thegreatest, but now China doesn't have a lot ofcompetitionnowto drive those fur prices up."

There are 13 New Brunswickspecies of thefurbearersin the harvest report, including red fox, beaver, coyote, otter, raccoonandskunk.

And last year, the price forevery type ofpelts fell in some cases sharply except for mink, which stayedrelativelythe same.

Forexample,the price ofa single muskrat pelt in 2001was more than $12. This year it's worth a little over$3.

Whilethe total number of licences sold has remained steady, the total value for the entire fur harvest last year hit a24- year low,coming in at just over $375,930.

Compare that tobeingworth nearly $1.7millionin 2013.

Schriver saidlow prices often mean fewer trappers in New Brunswick forests, and that translates into the smaller amounts being more evenly shared.

"Some just go into the woods when prices are up," said Schriver. "But I love the outdoors, so that's where I'll be regardless."