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Profile: Northern Region Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. - The Only Facility of Its Kind in the World ducer owned. The com- 7. pany is jointly owned by the fur harvesters - 50% by non-native and 50% by native. Currently, FHA handles 75% of Ontario’s wild fur production. Fur from other provinces and American states also goes through the auction fa- cility, The trapping industry is not as unregulated as many believe. Trappers are governed by strict laws based on humane harvest methods and conservation- minded ethics. Anyone wishing to become a trapper in the prov~ ince of Ontario must take a four»week course conducted by a qualified instructor. The course consists of both written and practical examinations and, upon passing, the graduate re- ceives adiploma. This, however, does not give the individual the right to trap. There are two different types of trapline systems in this prov~ ince. One is known as the resident trapl‘rne system. This type of licence is most common in Southern Ontario and rural farming areas. To acquire a resi- dent trapping licence, written permission from land owners must be obtained and taken to the Ministry of Natural Re- sources (MNR), along with the gruduate‘s diploma. The MNR then assigns the new trapper his or her licence with the property lots and concessions on which trapping is permitted. 8 Home & Country, Spring '94 By Mark Downey Registered traplines - the second type of trapline system - are vast areas of crown land which often contain several town- ships. These traplines are most common in Northern Ontario. There are 2,800 regiS» tered traplines in the province and up to 18,000 licenced trappers, the majority beâ€" ing resident trappers. A registered trapline is acquired through written application. When a trapper retires, his or her area becomes vacant. The MNR will offer the trapline to the applicant with the most points. The point system covers various items, such as years of experience, residency, trapper council membership, and other trapping related criteria. All ap- plicants are screened and through the tallying of each applicant‘s credentials, a new trapper is appointed to the area. Both a harvest quota and the types of animals that are to be harvested are docu- mented on the trapper‘s licence. The quota for beaver is based on two animals per live house. If a trapper has 2,000 acres of permission signed on his area licence, and there are 5 active beaver colonies within this area, the harvest quota will be set at 10 for the season. Quotas are set on registered line.’ by aerial surveys. The number of beaver colonies are counted and marked on maps. Some traplines in Ontario have over 300 active beaver colonies. The trapper is ob- ligated to harvest 75% of his beaver quota. If they fail to do so, loss of the trapline could occur. If the quota is over harvested, charges and loss of trapline occur automatically upon conviction. Before any pelt can be received at the emotion facility, the trapper must have them sealed by MNR personnel. This is just one of the checks and balances in place to ensure the resource is properly managed and controlled. In order for the trapper to get the pelt sealed, he must supply the game warden with a current trapping liâ€" cence. The officer records the number of pelts and species harâ€" vested and checks it against trapper’s quotaon the licence. '3' harvest records are duplicated â€" in This for harvester is trapping beaver pelts under ice conditions. continued on page 9