November 12, 1998

RWED hires fur expert to sell northern furs abroad

The GNWT hopes a Montreal-based consultant will help NWT trappers get better prices for their furs.

DWANE WILKIN
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — The Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development has hired a marketing expert from southern Canada to help heat up prices for northern wild fur.

The agreement with Montreal-based consultant Irving Camelot is part of the department's overall strategy to improve economic conditions for northern trappers.

"What Irving Camelot will do is ensure that the fur is sorted into lots and is properly cleaned for maximum sale," Joe Handley, deputy minister for RWED said. "He'll also do some advertising of it, and he'll be contacting key buyers."

Fur harvesters in the NWT are already subsidized by the territorial government under its fur pricing program, which guarantees trappers a minimum price for prime quality furs.

But prices would be better still, according to Handley, if the supply of fur originating north of 60 were better controlled.

"What has been happening is that northern fur is generally better quality fur, because of the colder climate. Because the auction houses take fur from all over Canada, they will take some of the best quality fur and mix it in with lots of poorer quality fur in order to get a better price for the whole package.

"The effect on us, we believe, is we're getting a lower-than-best price because our fur is used to upgrade somebody else's."

Starting this week, wildlife officers in each NWT community will be encouraging trappers to use Camelot's agency to sell their highest quality pelts in the South.

Wildlife officers will continue to grade furs harvested by local trappers, and purchase them at the government price, but in order to benefit from the new marketing program, the pelts must be shipped exclusively to the fur auction house in North Bay, Ont.

There, Camelot and associates will collect the fur, carry out any additional cleaning that's required, then sell it as premium NWT wild fur.

"By having more of the wild fur go to one spot, it gives him the quantity he needs to attract good prices," Handley said.

The furs could also end up bypassing the auction house altogether, and be sold abroad through the marketing agency's various contacts.

"If he receives an offer from, say, an Italian and it's a very good offer, he will sell it, because Irving Camelot's mandate is basically to get the highest price he can get for the harvester," John Stevenson, assistant deputy minister for RWED said.

"That's the primary reason we entered into this. We want to increase the value of our fur, and we want to get more money into the harvesters' pockets."

In return, Camelot will get a flat fee of about $40,000 per year to pay for expenses, plus a commission of four per cent above the auction price.

Currently, most trappers end up selling their furs at one of the three auction houses in southern Canada, without any marketing at all, and little or no distinction between aboriginal trapping and other harvests in the country.

"The Northwest Territories has developed tremendous amounts of money and energy in developing humane trapping systems throughout the North, and most harvesters are now using humane systems, so it's also to differentiate our fur in that respect, because not all jurisdictions are doing that," Stevenson said.

Approximately 25 per cent of all wild fur harvested in Canada comes from the NWT and Nunavut.

Nunavut regions will participate in the program for the rest of the winter. After division it will be up to Nunavut's new Department of Sustainable Development to decide whether to continue as a partner in RWED's fur marketing program.

If the marketing initiative is successful, Stevenson said the GNWT intends to pursue other partners in Yukon and Alaska, too.