Thank you, Mr. Kelloway.

I'm going to start with your last question first. How do our measures compare to the U.S.?

The closures that Fisheries and Oceans Canada is putting in place in Canadian waters due to the presence of right whales is unprecedented. It is a solution that removes rope from the water that overlaps with whales, but it causes a great burden to the industry. There are several examples, in addition to the ones Dr. Brillant presented, such as snow crab being caught in CFA 12 and getting to market over the last few years using ropeless gear in closed areas.

I will add that ropeless is not truly ropeless. It's rope on demand and line on demand.

I would add, for Mr. Small, that a lot of the manufacturers of this technology started in the oceanography business, where they were recovering gear from 5,000 feet of water. In likelihood, as we work with fishermen, we can start to address some of these bigger problems.

To the weak links part of the question, Mr. Kelloway, there is a concern that this is going to cause ghost gear. There's no doubt about that. The work is being done in Canada. There's also work being done in Massachusetts waters with lobstermen in that area, who have come up with a couple of different kinds of weak links that are being tested. They are finding that they can do it.

The key in all of these measures.... There is no single silver bullet to solve this problem and there's no single gear type, whether it be rope on demand or weak links, that is going to solve all of the problems for all of the fish. One size does not fit all in this issue.

That's why programs from the Canadian Wildlife Federation and others that we're working with, primarily in P.E.I. and down in the U.S., are demonstrating that when you bring all the various kinds of systems to the fishermen and let them try them, they can figure out what works best and what adapts to their fishery.

I hope I've hit all your questions.

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