Yes, it is a good option.
Unfortunately, since the measures for the whales started to be put in place, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has focused a lot of effort on protecting whales, without really looking at the possibilities to enable the fishery and the whales to coexist. However, measures could be put in place to do that.
We have been observing the whales' behaviour for five years and we know that the whales are concentrated toward the centre of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in fact. We could therefore put more dynamic measures in place that take the evidence into account, as we go along.
The same applies to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which currently requests closing of areas whenever it sees a whale. All fishers have to have left the area within 48 hours.
We can use the same kind of approach, that is, a flexible, rapid and immediate approach, to take measures that are sometimes more stringent, because the risks associated with fishing activities are higher, and sometimes less stringent, because the risks are lower. The risks are lower when the whales are all alone and moving in one direction, that is, toward the centre of the Gulf of St. Lawrence; the risks are higher when they are concentrated in an area and are moving among the ropes, if there are ropes there, to feed.