The global fur trade relies on China. Is the mood shifting? (2024)

FAQs

What is China's fur trade and its position in the global fur industry? ›

China's role as producer and consumer is now so pivotal to the global fur trade, that efforts by the Fur-Free movement to understand and oppose the fur trade must begin here. China is the most significant international partner in fur farming, production, processing and consumption.

Far from being a natural resource, fur production is an intensely toxic and energy-consumptive process, with pelts being dipped in toxic chemical soups and animal waste runoff from fur factory farms polluting soil and waterways.

China has been the world's largest importer of fur pelts and the largest exporter of finished fur products.

The industry has seen a decline in recent years, as consumers, retailers, designers turn their backs on real fur, and politicians vote in favour of fur production bans and, increasingly, fur sales bans.

The fur trade started because of a fashion craze in Europe during the 17th century. Europeans wanted to wear felt hats made of beaver fur. The most important players in the early fur trade were Indigenous peoples and the French. The French gave European goods to Indigenous people in exchange for beaver pelts.

The fur trade fell throughout the 19th century. With that came an economic decline for an Indigenous population that had lost much of its traditional economy. This pressed communities into signing many treaties that, in the end, assured the expansion of the new nation westward across the Prairies.

The fur trade was both very good and very bad for American Indians who participated in the trade. The fur trade gave Indians steady and reliable access to manufactured goods, but the trade also forced them into dependency on European Americans and created an epidemic of alcoholism.

The Europeans also introduced alcohol to the Indigenous population. This contributed to (and reflected) the demoralization of their culture which was taking place. European diseases, for which the Indigenous people had no immunity, took a serious toll on their populations.

The number of beavers killed during the fur trade was devastating for the local beaver population. The natural ecosystems that came to rely on the beavers for dams, water and other vital needs were also ravaged leading to ecological destruction, significant environmental change, and drought in certain areas.

California is the first state to ban fur, but it is following the lead of a number of its own municipalities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley. A variety of countries have banned fur farming, including Serbia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Who made money from fur trade? ›

For nearly 200 years afterward, European American traders exchanged manufactured goods with Native people for valuable furs. The Ojibwe and Dakota held powerful positions, prompting both the French and British to actively court their military and trade allegiance.

Portugal and Spain played major roles in fur trading after the 15th century with their business in fur hats.

Despite many brands going fur-free, animals are being killed for their fur at an alarming rate. Fur farmers use cruel and cheap methods to kill the animals such as electrocution, gas, poison, and suffocation.

Because animals need their fur coats more than we do. On animal fur factory farms around the world, millions of rabbits, foxes, mink, chinchillas and raccoon dogs spend their entire lives in cramped cages, deprived of the ability to engage in natural behaviors—only to be crudely gassed or electrocuted at the end.

So the modern fur trade satisfies our fourth ethical criterion: there is minimal waste. The choice is yours! In summary, the modern North American fur trade satisfies all four of the criteria for the ethical use of animals. Of course, this doesn't mean that anyone is obliged to wear fur.

Indians were the primary agents in the North American commercial fur trade. It was they who hunted the animals, and transported and traded the pelts or skins to European intermediaries.

The development of the North American fur trade can be attributed to three interrelated economic factors: 1) a bountiful supply of furs; 2) an indigenous and highly motivated fur gathering system that only the Native population could provide through their interest for European goods; 3) a continuing external demand for ...

Fur production reportedly impacts the environment negatively through the release of gases, chemicals and fossil fuels. Some conservationists say that fur farming could have a positive environmental impact, reducing the pressure of wild-animal population growth.

The fur trade reshaped American Indian life, however. Indians acquired brass kettles, axes, hatches, farm implements, and metal fishing hooks that altered the way they lived. Firearms changed the way they hunted and the way they went to war with each other and with Europeans.

What were some of the long term effects of the fur trade quizlet? ›

What were some results of the fur trade? Overhunting depleted animal populations to the point of extinction in some regions and undermined traditional hunting rituals and reciprocal relationships in which hunters treated animal spirits with respect and animals allowed themselves to be hunted.

The North American fur trade started when native people of Newfoundland encountered European fishermen and traded pelts for iron tools. The Hudson's Bay Company was the largest fur company and run by the British. In Europe, felt hats were sought after and were made by combining beaver and rabbit wool.

Relations with French traders and Native Americans was not always peaceful. Conflict was regular, and armed conflict was not uncommon.

The fur trade resulted in many long term effects that negatively impacted Native people throughout North America, such as starvation due to severely depleted food resources, dependence on European and Anglo-American goods, and negative impacts from the introduction of alcohol-which was often exchanged for furs.

The fur trade provided Indigenous peoples with European goods that they could use for gift-giving ceremonies, to improve their social status and to go to war. The French forged military alliances with their Indigenous allies in order to maintain good trade and social relations.

Furs from leopard, panther, lynx and gray squirrel were reserved for the elite, while everyone else has to to with the more common wolf, fox, and sheep's fur. These days, there have been many functional alternatives other than fur, but fur still remains popular due to its elegance.

Fur farming has been banned in 19 European countries, 14 of which are EU member states. These include Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the UK.

The British gained control of the fur trade in 1760 after winning the French and Indian War. In 1816 the United States took control when Congress made it illegal for foreigners to trade in this country. The fur trade declined over time, reaching a low in 1850.

The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the United States. The maritime fur trade was pioneered by Russians, working east from Kamchatka along the Aleutian Islands to the southern coast of Alaska.

The law was passed in 2019 but just went into effect.

California's ban on the sale and manufacturing of new animal fur products officially went into effect on January 1, 2023, making it the first state to officially end the fur trade within its borders. The new law only applies to the sale of new fur garments.

How much is a beaver pelt worth? ›

Top quality beaver pelts may bring in $25 or more, but you can also sell your lower-quality beaver pelts for the hat market.

Mink abused for fur

The mink is probably the most famous of all fur animals. While the European mink is strictly protected, American minks are bred as fur animals or are caught directly in the wild with brutal traps.

Keeping wild predators in small cages results in numerous serious stress-related health problems – as infected wounds, missing limbs, cannibalism and stereotypical behaviour. To preserve the pelts animals on fur farms or killed by cruel methods as gassing, neck-breaking, anal electrocution and sometimes skinning alive.

What you may not know is that cows, dogs, and other animals also suffer and die for the production of leather items—and their deaths are no less horrible, heartbreaking, or appalling than those of animals killed for their fur.

an inhumane death

To preserve the pelts, animals on fur farms are killed by inhumane methods, such as gassing and head-to-tail electrocution. Fox and raccoon dogs are generally electrocuted through the mouth and anus; a method with potential to inflict severe pain and distress on the animal.

However, with animal rights aside, she says real fur is still far worse for the environment. “Eighty-five percent of the fur industry's skins come from animals living captive in fur factory farms,” she says. “I think most of us are aware now of the devastating impact that factory farming has on the environment.

Vegan fashion means that any clothes made of animal leather, fur, or wool aren't worn. More than this, many vegans look into how ethically produced their garments are, as animals can be treated cruelly to harvest the materials that our clothes are made from, even when the material itself is free of animal products.

Many well-known fashion brands and designers have stopped using real fur completely. Some of them are Versace, Furla, Armani, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Shrimps, and Vivienne Westwood.

Although animals trapped in the wild account for roughly 5% of furs used in the global fur trade, the methods used to catch and kill them are horrific and brutal. Wire noose snares can crush organs or slowly strangle an animal to death.

What was the fur trade and why was it important? ›

Native Americans traded along the waterways of present-day Minnesota and across the Great Lakes for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1600s. For nearly 200 years afterward, European American traders exchanged manufactured goods with Native people for valuable furs.

From the 17th through the second half of the 19th century, Russia was the world's largest supplier of fur. The fur trade played a vital role in the development of Siberia, the Russian Far East and the Russian colonization of the Americas.

Why was China involved in the maritime fur trade? Wealthy chinese wanted to purchase the fur. What groups benefited from the increased competition over sea otter fur pelts?

With this development, British traders from Canada and even a few American colonials entered the Great Lakes fur trade, although French Canadians continued to constitute the bulk of traders going west.

The fur trade was both very good and very bad for American Indians who participated in the trade. The fur trade gave Indians steady and reliable access to manufactured goods, but the trade also forced them into dependency on European Americans and created an epidemic of alcoholism.

The development of the North American fur trade can be attributed to three interrelated economic factors: 1) a bountiful supply of furs; 2) an indigenous and highly motivated fur gathering system that only the Native population could provide through their interest for European goods; 3) a continuing external demand for ...

The first firms to participate in the fur trade were French, and under French rule the trade spread along the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, and down the Mississippi. In the seventeenth century, following the Dutch, the English developed a trade through Albany.

Many Indigenous peoples soon came to depend on the fur trade as their primary source of income and European-manufactured goods. However, by the mid-19th century changing fashions in Europe brought about a collapse in fur prices and led to the closure of several fur companies.

They harvested a wide variety of furs (beaver being the most valuable) in the region's woodlands and waterways. In exchange for these furs, French, British, and US traders provided goods such as cloth, blankets, firearms and ammunition, metal tools, and brass kettles.

The Indigenous peoples became dependent on the trading posts for firearms and ammunition and for European food. Because they were devoting most of their time hunting for the fur trade, they didn't have time to hunt for their own food as they had in the past.

What was fur used for in ancient China? ›

Fur skins from various wild animals were used by the ancient Chinese as protection from the elements and later as a mark of status. One of the words discovered in the earliest Chinese writing is the hieroglyph for fur. Fur's popularity grew considerably during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

The fur trade became North America's primary business. It was dominated by France until 1760. Numerous cities such as New York, Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis started as trading posts.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, several European countries took a significant amount of interest in the fur trade that took place in North America. Both France and the Netherlands are recognized as two of the most influential European countries that participated in the fur trade in North America.

The French empire was based on the fur trade in this region and required Native American alliances to sustain it. Native people and the French traded, lived together, and often married each other and built families together.