Strategy for fighting seal bans...

[Animal 0]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/03/12/north-trap.html


Inuit sealers in Nunavut meet to discuss strategy for fighting seal bans
CBC News


An unusually frigid winter in many parts of the world is spelling record profits for trappers in the Mackenzie Delta of the Northwest Territories, as wealthy consumers seek fur coats to keep them warm.


Trappers like 18-year-old Samuel McLeod of Aklavik, N.W.T., are seeing their pelts sell for 20 to 50 per cent more at auction this year, with well-heeled international customers willing to pay as much as $50,000 for a fur coat.


McLeod, who drives a snowmobile 50 kilometres from his home three times a week to check his traps, said one of his lynx pelts recently netted him $290, compared with $60 for a similar pelt a year ago.


"It's pretty good," McLeod told CBC News on Tuesday. "First time I got high prices."


It has also been a good year for martin pelts — a staple fur among Delta trappers — as they are fetching a 20 per cent premium over last year.


"This year, because of the really cold weather everywhere in the world, the sale was really strong," said Jim Gibb, a spokesman for the Fur Harvesters Auction house in North Bay, Ont.


"The markets that I'm talking about are in Russia and northern China, and they had really cold weather this year," he added. "So it makes fur come off the rack. It makes for strong sales."


Gibb said he expects the trend to continue for the rest of this season. That's good news for hunters like McLeod, who said he hopes the high prices will encourage more people to go trapping.


"Yeah, I think more people should go out," McLeod said. "They're all doing nothing in town."


Inuit seal hunters, trappers discuss bans


Meanwhile, Nunavut's seal hunters are struggling with seal product bans imposed in some European countries.


Early this year, sealskin sales slumped at a Fur Harvesters Auction event on Jan. 8, with only five per cent of this season's pelts sold. Another auction is scheduled for the end of May.


At the time, officials at the auction house could not say for sure if the poor sales had anything to do with recent bans on seal products in the Netherlands and Belgium.


On Tuesday, the Fur Institute of Canada held a workshop with Inuit hunters and trappers in Iqaluit. There, they introduced a new Nunavut subgroup to its national committee that is fighting future seal bans in Europe.


The new subcommittee aims to raise awareness about Inuit seal hunting, as well as the importance of seals to Inuit culture and economy.


Iqaluit resident Aaju Peter, a member of the new subcommittee, told the hunters and trappers to oppose any bans on seal fur, even if those bans try to make exemptions for traditional Inuit hunters.


"I think the anti-sealing campaign has exempted Inuit to look good, because they're going to look good politically," Peter said.


"When you attack the seal hunt, you are attacking everybody here. Even if you are saying you're exempting Inuit seal hunting, you're basically attacking it from the back door, not right up front."


Peter said any seal product ban will hurt the market, meaning Inuit would not be able to sell their pelts.


Inuit hunters have argued that European anti-seal fur groups say they want to allow traditional seal hunting, but cannot define "traditional hunting" beyond activity that does not involve rifles and snowmobiles.