Killing-trap research has identified several traps or modifications with potential to meet established humane criteria in Canada. Although no fully approved devices have been produced to date, some likely will be approved for certain species in the near future. Padded foot-hold traps have been shown to significantly reduce injury, and in tests of efficiency have been comparable to unpadded traps for some species and regions. They come from a variety of occupational backgrounds and few rely solely on trapping income, although many rate trapping income as important. Trappers, as a group, are highly knowledgeable on wildlife issues and have a high degree of affection and concern for wildlife and natural habitats, but they also believe in using animals for human benefit and have little empathy for ethical objections to such use.
Trapping provides raw materials for the fur industry.
The fur industry periodically undergoes major demand swings that influence trapper effort. The amount and distribution of trapper effort in turn affects wildlife management planning and decisions. Although recreational values and motives are important to many trappers, total trapping effort is directly related to prevailing fur values. Subsistence trapping is culturally and economically important to peoples in northern Canada and Alaska, particularly aboriginals, as well as to residents in some areas of the contiguous United States. Traps are one of the primary tools for controlling problems in both operational and extension programs of wildlife damage control.