Halibut Quota Ad on SportfishingBC Home page - Still there!

[Fish-Hunter]

Yes, isn't that nice. They took Wolf's thread down, I believe that it was very close to or just over 2000 views in less than 24 hours. Obviously, goes to show that this is a very serious issue to many on this site. Lots of people have now left the site to join other sites. This is a sad day here for the sake of a couple of hundred dollars???? What ever the money amount is, is not the point, it is the principle of taking and running that particular ad on a site that so dedicated to sport fishing. The thought that anyone on here would be receptive of that ad, well obviously there was not much thought there other than for the money to run the ad.

If you are not sure what we are talking about here, go to the Sport FishingBC Home page:
http://www.sportfishingbc.com/index.html and on that page you will find the ad for purchasing halibut quota, yes that is what I said, and ad promoting the purchase of Halibut Quota from Commercial Quota Holders. Now the trick here is that if you go to the home page from this forum you will not see the ad, they have blocked it from view via this forum link. However if you click on one of the other tabs on that page and then go back to the home page (you may have to try a couple of times) Voila, there it is in all of it glory. The link I have included does show the ad I believe.

The Administrators have been asked to remove the ad as many of us find it to be a slap in the face to the people that are supporting this site. They did respond, but in defense of the ad, and they have not removed it, instead they removed Wolf's whole thread on the issue. This thread will likely be removed soon also. With a heavy heart, I have decided that I will not be making regular contributions to this site until that ad is completely removed and an apology is put forth to everyone.

I will be participating at this forum for general discussions: http://www.bcfishingreports.com/forums/forum.php this seems to be where a lot of the people that have already left, have gone to. A great forum with the same type of format as this one. I will also be using this site for fishing reports: http://www.zurtrolures.ca/reports/ another great site, if you have not seen it, check it out now before they delete this thread too. Sign on and make some reports.

Cheers to all of the great people that I have encountered here, I hope to see you on the other sites and on the water.

Over and out.

 

[Fish-Hunter]

This was the response on Wolf's thread by the Admin.

Hi Guys,

We note, with no surprise, the response to the IQMI ad that was posted on our site yesterday. When the ad was submitted (it was not solicited), we were well aware that it would be contentious, given the previous discussions that had taken place around this issue on the Forum. (Yes, we do spend a lot of time reading your posts on a daily basis).

A little digging into the IQMI website reveals that it is not a government -sponsored undertaking, but rather a private sector enterprise with an executive comprised of three people, one with a background in finance and IT, the others with backgrounds in the commercial fishery. The company’s services include managing and selling quotas in behalf of their clients who can, by extension, only be commercial quota holders.

In one of the earlier posts on this issue the following was stated: “You can't afford to judge your advertisers, if you can, congratulations, your publication is probably one in a handful in the entire world.” Further to that, our position is that a democratically-run publication has no business judging its advertisers at all.

The entrepreneurs availing themselves of opportunity are not the ones at fault here. That the 88-12 allocation is in place is patently wrong. That there are quota holders who don’t own a boat is patently wrong. But it’s not their fault that they hold and exercise those quotas, it’s the fault of the Federal Government, and particularly Fisheries and Oceans Canada, that enable them to do so.

With careful investigation, we could no doubt find cause to criticize any or all of our advertisers for any number of reasons. And they could no doubt do the same to us. But it is their investment that enables us to provide the many features that our site delivers, including the Forum. We appreciate and share your passion for sport fishing and the many businesses it supports.

Peter

 

[sammyslabber]

see ya on the other forums, many to choose frome and im on all of them....i think all of them, lol.....holmes*

Peter,
Like many I'm waiting in the background & hope the halibut lease ad is resolved soon!I enjoyed my time spent on this site so much it became a daily ritual ...get up turn the coffee on...then power up the computer... hit the "Favorites" to locate SFBC forum. It'll be strange for a while but hey with so many other sites out there I'll soon be over the withdrawl.Will it be Hasta la Vista/or Adios the choice was/is yours Peter...by the looks of your self serving response...your choice was already made!...Sammy

 

[Fish-Hunter]

Just edited this photo really quick to attach to my signature so that it will show up in every post that I have ever made here. A quick and easy way to spread the word and get the point across that we are PO'ed.

Still waiting for a response from the site owners to see what the solution will be.

 

[Last Chance]

After some additional hounding, the owners of SFBC (Not me), have seen the light, or sobered up and removed the ad.

 

[the fog ducker]

Thanks......

 

[Fish-Hunter]

After much consideration and consultation with business enterprises in the sport fishing industry, we have decided to remove the ad regarding the brokerage of halibut quota. This decision, while taking longer than many of you may have liked, required a period of due diligence on our part. We respect the fact that it is everyone's right to choose sides on controversial positions like the 88/12 decision, and as stated earlier, we do not agree with the Federal Government’s allocation of the resource. However, we hope that you would also respect that it is a dangerous precedent for an advertising medium such as ours, to disallow someone with a contrary viewpoint their space in our publication, whether it is paid advertising or in our free forum. Free speech, as it turns out, sometimes comes with a price and today we have made a business decision to align ourselves with the many other businesses in the industry who, we discovered, are quietly putting their money and other resources into the fight against the quota.

We would like to personally thank our moderator, Last Chance, for his input and maintaining the forum in a professional manner. It isn't always easy but always appreciated.

In closing, we would like to ask that as always, please use this forum for what it is intended…a place to share ideas, information and express your opinions on a wide range of topics, provided of course the rules of the forum are applied. We have never censored anyone unless a post was slanderous, inappropriate, or extremely personal in its nature. This will be the last post we will make on this topic. We know you will carry on commenting on this topic and many others, and we respect and appreciate the passion, information, humour and camaraderie that you share on our forum.

Best Regards,
Peter and Brian

Thank you gentlemen. Thank you very much! I would like to apologize for going off, but as you can tell this issue (Halibut Quota and or leasing of it) is very serious to me, and it really shook me to see the SFBC support it in any fashion. From my bias standpoint, I believe that you made the right decision by removing the ad.
THANK-YOU!

 

[cuttlefish]

Thanks...and just as in free access to Canadian aquatic resources by Canadians, there is a difference between free speech and that which is bought.

 

[sammyslabber]

Just picked up the Victoria Times Colonist from the recycle bin & checked out the classified sc(boat 4 sale) wtf it's another Hali AD touting the the halibut lease program...sammy

 

[Fish-Hunter]

Just picked up the Victoria Times Colonist from the recycle bin & checked out the classified sc(boat 4 sale) wtf it's another Hali AD touting the the halibut lease program...sammy

Sammy, did you you use it to wipe with?? Cause that's about the only thing this program has going for it. Every time I see that damned logo it makes my blood boil, saw it the other day in the June issue of Island Fisherman, I just about choked. I will be contacting them to voice my displeasure for sure. WTF are these guys thinking when they run these ads in publications that are heavily targeting Sport fisher-people??? Don't they think that it will **** us off??? Holmes is right, this program is a joke, a really sad JOKE, and the problem here is that the only ones laughing are the damned slipper skippers that dreamed this whole scheme up.