By Serge Lariviére
Finally! Yes, finally, some positive news came in the world of wild fur sales! Thanks to the international fur auction held by Fur Harvesters Auctions (www.furharvesters.com) on March 20-22, 2023, I can report some optimism and advancing prices.
Recognized as the first in-person wild fur auction since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, this auction held in North Bay, Canada, had buyers in person from several different countries including China, Turkey, Korea, Greece, and also from all over Canada and the United States. A big crowd is always better for an auction sale, and it is difficult to match the enthusiasm and energy of live bidding in an auction room. After so many consecutive market reports forecasting or reporting bad news, I am glad to finally write some positive news: the sale was good and a nice breath of fresh air on our trade!
The author with his daughter, Veronique, on the successful beaver line. Photo credit: Serge Lariviere
The main highlight of this sale was beaver — yes — beaver. All beaver pelts offered at the sale (more than 31,000 skins) sold for an average price of $30.33 — a price that can support motivated trappers in the field. An increase in pelt prices for any species is good news, but for beaver, an increase in price is fantastic because almost all trappers in North America have access to beavers to harvest, and many remote traplines of the North have beaver and marten as their backbone.
When beaver prices are deemed high enough, trappers get out after beavers, and in the process, also harvest other species incidentally or as they travel from beaver pond to beaver pond. Beaver is also the top furbearing animal with meat that is used for human consumption, and when not consumed by humans, beaver meat is a top-notch bait for all carnivore species, from martens to foxes, to lynx and bears. Beavers also rank as the number one nuisance animals when they flood fields, plug culverts, threaten roads or railways, so catching beavers is sometimes unavoidable — so being able to sell them well is a win on many fronts.
Currently, the market for beaver hides is for the felt — hats in a wide variety of styles, and also liners and other uses in global markets. The good news with using beaver for felt markets is that buyers can ignore a few holes as long as the fur is dense and prime. Even in this strengthening market, catching fur that is prime is key, and large sizes yield more felt than small sizes — so size and primeness are key for this item.
The Trapper’s Fur Market expert Serge Lariviére.
Castoreum — the other by-product of catching beavers, after the meat, is down in price and the market has dropped to $50-$95 a pound depending on quality. At the Fur Harvesters Auction, grade 1 castoreum sold for $75 per pound, while select glands sold for $95 a pound. Shipping costs overseas are rumored to be at least partly responsible for the decline in price.
Other water species stayed more or less on on par with previous sales, with river otters averaging $29.93, and wild mink at a dismal $3.55. The muskrat market is expected to rise in the next few months because of the increase in ranch mink prices, so most skins were kept in prevision of this expected increase in price.
Marten, a staple of most Northern traplines, increased in price, especially the top quality skins that averaged $50.54 this year compared to $40.58 in 2022. Fisher also climbed up from an overall average of $28.29 in 2022 to $40.31 this year! Northern Canada lynx, another big-woods exotic fur animal, also rose from an average of $67.82 in 2022 to $121.61 in 2023! Not every trapper has access to these Northern animals on their traplines, but getting $10 a skin more for marten and fisher than last year is a great incentive, if you have them.
Bobcats seemed to remain in line with last year’s values, with Western cats bringing $302.20 on average, while Northern cats brought $104.71.
There is really something special about walking up on a bobcat. Photo credit Jason Houser
Let us now move to the staple of most Southern traplines — raccoon. Raccoon has been difficult to move in past years, and that market is still struglling. Last year prices for the very best raccoons, those from the West (Western heavies) averaged $14.74 in March 2022, and only $9.13 this year in 2023. Needless to say, the motivation to trap raccoons by the hundreds is nonexistent at the moment, and that market is likely to remain extremely disappointing until the Russians come back to the buying table — so do not expect a big upswing in this market until the war between Russia and Ukraine is over.
Coyotes, the one species that carried trappers from 2013 to 2020 thanks to spectacular prices for the trim trade (mostly fur trim on parka hoods), is back to averages of $37.19 for Western skins and $14.75 for Eastern pelts. Although it is sad to see coyote prices so low, we were extremely lucky to sell coyotes for more than $100 each for almost 10 years.
Red foxes struggles are the same as coyotes, with the best Northern skins selling at $17.07 on average, compared to $15.06 last year. Only the best skins sell in these tough times, so if that is your main quarry — catch them when they are prime and handle them well. In contrast, colored foxes sold on average $35.19 for the silvers and $43.59 for the cross foxes.
Taxidermy items and specialty furs — wolves, bears, wolverines, and even skunks, sold very well. Limited quantities and the high demand for wall-hangers, or specialty items (skunk mitts) seem to keep the prices high. As an example, striped skunks averaged $16.43 USD, which in this sale was the price of two raccoons. Wolverines also rose from $353.93 in 2022 to $441.91 in 2023. The market only offers so many of these skins, and the demand remains way above the offer. Same for black bears, which continued to advance in price from $135.70 in 2022 to $176.66 in 2023.
All in all, this sale is positive on the most important fronts, except for maybe coyote, raccoon, wild mink and muskrats. The prices we see now may not be as high as we would like yet, but that upswing is a nice breath of fresh air. The industry also takes relief in knowing that clearance on skins offered was almost 100%, which means the buyers bought basically all that was offered. I will take these two positive signs with great enthousiasm and optimism as I consider my trapping plans for next season!
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