Certainly gear is important. It's hard to legislate gear because gear changes very rapidly. If we're talking about certain ways of catching fish, such as longlining, they can be relatively benign and relatively targeted at some fisheries, and they can be relatively destructive in others. If you look at albatross declines in the southern oceans, that's all been from longline fisheries. They've been able to mitigate that with changes in gear. I think your point is extremely well taken that gear is fundamental, but I'm not sure how you would legislate it.
On November 23rd, 2017. See this statement in context.