Well the price of dead beavers just went up in the tippy top of Canada, behind Alaska. And just before international beaver day to boot. How thoughtful!
Beaver castors being bought for $65 ‘long overdue’ addition to N.W.T. fur program
Hunters and trappers in the N.W.T. are able to make more money harvesting beavers, after the territorial government added beaver castors to the list of things it’ll pay advances for.
Male and female beavers have a pair of castor sacs located under the skin, between the pelvis and the base of their tail, which produce castoreum. The scent is used to mark the animals’ territory and according to a press release issued Monday, it’s also “highly prized” as a flavour and an ingredient in perfumes.
Now, a pound of dried castors will fetch an advance of $65.
Now I wrote the reporter to ask what ‘advance’ means in this case. She explained, “A hunter or trapper can bring their furs and castors to their local ENR office. The officer there will give them a certain amount of money (the guaranteed advance) depending on what they brought in. If that item later sells for more money, the trapper will be paid out the difference. This all happens through the territory’s Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program.”
Isn’t that special?
“We are pleased to help hunters and trappers by expanding what is accepted under the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program and by bringing N.W.T. beaver castors to the market,” said Shane Thompson, the territory’s minister of environment and natural resources, in the release.
Harvesters will be paid more if castors, just like pelts, are sold for more money on the fur market than the amount they were advanced.
Under the fur program, a trapper is guaranteed $25 for a pelt.
About eight castors are needed to make a pound, and that means between the pelts and the castors — a trapper is only guaranteed $165 for four beavers, Norwegian pointed out. He said beavers take about 2 hours to skin, and pelts need to be worth $200 and $300 to make the hard work of catching and skinning worthwhile.
It takes an entire family of beavers to make your measly 68 dollars. That’s got to be at least a days work setting and checking the traps. Ugh.
Wilbert Antoine, another Fort Simpson elder who traps, said an advance for beaver castors is “long overdue.”
“A lot of the people younger than us just throw it away,” he said, noting that he and Norwegian were taught in the 50s that every part of the animal has value to it. Castors, they both said, are a valuable tool that can be used to lure other animals into traps.
Antoine said any increase to the price of beaver will “do a lot” to boost hunting and trapping, which is something he’d like to see. He said people 50 and under, and especially young people, are not being taken out on the land like he was.
Right. It is so important to get outdoors in the fresh air, kill things and remove their testicles. You have no idea what it means for our tribal heritage, There is no cost for a hunting license, and even a special aboriginal license only sets you back 22 dollars. Trappers in NWT are well provided for.
There’s even a helpful webpage to show you how to harvest the castors.
