Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report today on the excellent performance of NWT harvested furs at recent fur auctions.
In total, over 9,000 NWT pelts have been sold at three separate auctions since January. In all cases, fur sold through the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program has outperformed fur from all other jurisdictions at auction...
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...with total sales from all pelts now expected to exceed $800,000.
Marten pelts sold through the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program continue to fetch a higher-than-average price for harvesters in the NWT; over $79 for NWT pelts compared to the overall average of just over $69.
Mr. Speaker, while prices for marten spiked dramatically last year, those results were an exception to the norm and were fuelled, in part, by exceptional interest from the
Chinese marketplace that was not renewed to the same extent this year.
The price of individual marten pelts is down from last year. However, Mr. Speaker, it is on par with those that have been recorded for the past five years and is, in fact, up slightly from two years ago. This is important to us, Mr. Speaker, because as a government we originated the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program in 2002 for the exact circumstances we are witnessing today.
The Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program provides: a guaranteed fur advance for NWT trappers while their fur is shipped for sale; a prime bonus fur those whose furs sell for more than the advance; and a grubstake payment of $5 per pelt paid to eligible trappers at the start of each fur trapping season.
It provides NWT trappers with a comprehensive fur marketing service and ensures trappers in the NWT are secure in the knowledge that they will receive a return from their efforts.
Since the program's inception, the price for marten pelts has risen sharply from about $60 per pelt Canadian to the almost $80 we are discussing today. Marten pelts account for almost 80 percent of the total value of the NWT harvest.
Finally, Mr .Speaker, and perhaps most importantly, I am pleased to report that since the introduction of the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program, the number of youth involved in the trapping industry is continuing to grow.
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Mr. Speaker, this trend indicates that the trapping sector of our traditional economy is getting stronger and continues to benefit residents across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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