Fur Trade

Although the animal rights campaign of the 1980s, the 1982 sealskin ban by the European Economic Community, and the growth of fur farming has caused a drastic reduction in the fur trade, fur production is still an important part of the Inuit economy. It provides some cash income to subsistence harvesters and is compatible with a traditional lifestyle. One in six Inuit households does some trapping. In addition to fox trapping and seal hunting, the territorial government allows each community to take a limited number of polar bears each year. These may either be hunted for the fur trade or used for tourist sport hunting.