Quebec Fur Trapping Statistics by Species and Management Unit, 1917-2026

Historical fur transaction records for Quebec cover 19 species, including beaver, muskrat, and coyote, from the 1917-1918 season to the present. The Government and Municipalities of Québec compiled this data, which is aggregated province-wide until 1983-1984 and then broken down by Fur Management Unit (UGAF). A 'data not validated' column flags records near species range limits, and outliers are moved to a designated UGAF 99.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term population trends for specific fur-bearing species based on transaction counts.
• Modeling the spatial distribution of trapping activity across Fur Management Units (UGAF) from 1984 onward.
• Investigating the impact of species classification changes, such as the separation of wolf and coyote records after 1982-1983.
• Assessing data reliability by filtering records using the 'data not validated' column and the outlier UGAF 99 designation.

Strengths

• Data spans over a century of trapping seasons, from 1917-1918 to the present.
• Includes transaction counts for 19 distinct species or species groups, such as weasels, beaver, and muskrat.
• Provides spatial granularity at the Fur Management Unit (UGAF) level for data from 1984-1985 onwards.

Limitations

• Data represents raw fur transactions, not actual harvests, as catches may be carried over or kept for personal use.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.

Provenance

Source

Government and Municipalities of Québec | Gouvernement et municipalités du Québec

Collection Method

Compiled from fur transaction records submitted by trappers.

Time Range

1917-1918 to present (latest update 2026).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-17 15:50:17.818334; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Quebec, Canada, aggregated province-wide and later by Fur Management Units (UGAF).