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