status. Marten production has increased steadily to a point over two thousand 

 above the previous record year of 1921-22 when the catch was eight thousand. 

 Loss of long fur jwpularity in 1953-54 seriously reduced its value and it re- 

 mains in the four to five dollar bracket. 



Lynx — 1926-27 was the previous record catch year with a total of 4,568. 

 This years catch adds up to 4,578 and barely estabhshes a new record. Trappers 

 received an average of $36.00 then in comparison to today's average of $9.00. 



Weasel, Squirrel and Skunk — ^Numbers of these taken remain quite low 

 and combined with poor prices paid are of little importance except to the young 

 trapper. 



Restocking — ^Due to the number of fires last year, aircraft was unavailable 

 for restocking purposes. Most of the areas previously restocked have had ex- 

 cellent recoveries and are now open for trapping. 



FUR FARMING. 1961 



Unlike a year ago, the mink pelt market opened in early December in 

 Canada, with active competition among a large attendance of buyers. It was 

 obvious that the trade was anxious to acquire merchandise to restock depleted 

 inventories and up to 95% of the pelts offered were sold. Notable advances 

 in prices were made in the dark and sapphire mink categories with most other 

 types holding firm to last year's levels. 



The strong demand at firm prices prevailed throughout the season and 

 approximately 90% of the mink crop was sold by early May. This augurs well 

 for the 1962/63 season. 



The trimming trade was responsible for consuming about four million of 

 the jQfteen million mink pelts which it is estimated were produced in the world 

 in 1961. With this strong demand for commercial mink the ranchers who raise 

 ordinary to poor quality pelts have been able to realize a profit on their opera- 

 tions and temporarily postpone their ultimate doom. The consumption of such 

 large quantities of commercial mink by the trimming trade also has been a factor 

 in maintaining good prices for the better quality mink. 



In January 1962, Canada Mink Breeders sponsored a special auction sale 

 of the rarer types and more delicate shades of mutation mink, in the Queen 

 Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. This sale was unique because for the first time in 

 the history of the industry, four major Canadian auction houses co-operated in 

 the presentation of this sale. It was a highly successful venture both for the 

 ranchers and the 150 buyers that attended from North America, seven European 

 countries, United Kingdom and South Africa. The sale realized about $650,000 



TRENDS IN TOTAL SEALED PELTS AND VALUES 



Total Total Average* Average* 



Sealed Sealed % Change Value Value % Change 



1960-61 1961-62 Volume 1960-61 1961-62 Value 



Beaver 132,375 137,609 + 4% 12.65 10.48 —17.1% 



Fisher 3,348 2,728 — 18.5% 11.84 13.57 + 12.7% 



Lynx 4,502 4,578 + 1.6% 10.08 9.02 —10.5% 



Marten 9,325 10,260 + 9.1% 6.00 3.66 —39.0% 



Mink 61,520 47,215 —23.2% 8.64 8.98 + 3.8% 



Otter 7,422 7,456 -|- .4% 27.42 24.40 —11.0% 



♦Average for all grades and sizes throughout season at O.T.A. Fur Sales, North Bay. 



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