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Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and Culture, Heritage and Tourism Minister Eric Robinson today welcomed continued federal funding for a unique trapping research program that will help keep important wild fur markets in Europe open to Canadian fur.

Ottawa has agreed to invest $240,000 in the research and development program and agreed to funding in future years as well. Other sources of funding for the program come from the fur industry and the animal welfare community. Manitoba had actively lobbied for the continuation of the program and provided leadership by chairing a federal/provincial/territorial working group appointed by the Canadian Council of Resource Ministers.

"European markets are essential for our wild fur industry to continue," said Struthers. "Over 6,000 Manitoba trappers and their families, most of them Aboriginal, depend on those markets. This program is critical."

Canada's trap development program is part of an international treaty signed by Ottawa with the European Union and Russia to improve animal welfare in trapping. Under the treaty, standards for traps and animal welfare must be in place by 2007. Under a national agreement reached at the Canadian Wildlife Ministers conference in 1999, the federal government supports the trap research program located in Vegreville, Alta., while the provinces and territories fund other aspects of implementing the treaty. Provincial/territorial responsibilities include trap certification, trapper education, administration and enforcement.

"Manitobans have told us this trap development program must be maintained and we are very pleased that it will continue," said Robinson, who visited the Vegreville facility in April. "After a first-hand look at the research that is going on there, I can tell you there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world and it is paying off for our trappers."

The scientific research at Vegreville has resulted in a number of advances that have made Canada the world leader in humane trapping, noted Struthers. For example, the development of computer simulation models allows for the testing of traps without using live animals and is a fraction of the original cost of testing traps. The national trap program is managed by the Fur Institute of Canada on behalf of the provincial, territorial and federal governments.

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