286 REFOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 THE FUR SUPPLIES AND MARKETS. 



From the Middle Ages to 1600, Russia was the great source of furs 

 for the world. Many skins were obtained in other parts of Europe 

 and Asia, but even in the aggregate the quantity was relativeh^ small. 

 The discovery of the resources of North America changed the current 

 of , the trade, this continent soon becoming the great fur territor}!-; and 

 during the last three hundred years the United States and Canada 

 have been the principal fur-producing countries. 



The prominence of the United States in the product of aquatic furs 

 is especially notable, the value of the raw skins produced in 1900 being 

 12,302,100, whereas the total for all other countries was $2,960,610. 

 This country yielded 80 per cent of the muskrat, 70 per cent of the 

 mink, 56 per cent of the sea-otter, 35 per cent of the otter, 30 per cent of 

 fur-seal, and 12 per cent of the beaver produced throughout the world. 



The importance of the Dominion of Canada as a producer of aquatic 

 furs is very much less than that of the United States. Indeed, exclud- 

 ing the take of the fur-seal in the pelagic fishery, the total value of 

 aquatic furs secured in that country in 1900 amounted to less than 

 $1,000,000, only 40 per cent as much as in the United States. The 

 aquatic furs obtained in the limits of Canada are beaver, mink, otter, 

 and muskrat. The fur-seal fishery as a Canadian enterprise is of com- 

 paratively recent origin, dating from about 1880, and the animals are 

 caught in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea at a great distance from 

 Canadian territory. 



Russia, especially that portion bordering the Pacific Ocean, at one 

 time yielded the great bulk of aquatic as well as of other furs on the 

 market, the product of sea-otter and fur-seal being particularly lai-ge. 

 Owing to the cession of Alaska to the United States and the increasing 

 scarcity of furs on the Siberian coasts, the importance of Russia in 

 this particular is now greatl}'^ reduced. South America yields only 

 two aquatic furs of consequence, viz, nutria and fur-seal. Several 

 species of otter occur there, but they are of little value and few arc 

 taken. Japan yields some fur-seal and sea-otter skins. From Europe, 

 Africa, Australia, and the southern coast of Asia the product of 

 aquatic furs is of very little importance. 



The annual yield of aquatic furs tiirctuates greatl}', and an estimate 

 of the collection is far from reliable, except for the particular year to 

 which it relates. When furs of a special variety are fashionable, 

 hunting becomes active; as a result the quantit}^ placed on the market 

 lowers the price and the hunt declines, giving the animals another 

 opportunity to increase in numbers. While there are no means of 

 learning the exact quantit}' collected during any one year, in view of 

 the fact that the great bulk are haiuilcd at the London auction sales 

 it is possible to form a ver}' close estimate of the total product. 



With the assistance of several of the principal fur-houses of the 

 world, including the Hudson's Bay Company, Mr. Alexander Eraser, 



