Thank you for the question.
Yes. I think there are two things that have been working very separately right now. What Coastal Action is trying to do is connect these issues. On the issue of ghost gear, we see that right now it's very reactive. It's about retrieving gear from the ocean and cleaning it up from our shorelines. We're not thinking about a closed-loop system and solutions that could work in tandem as we're cleaning up this gear.
You mentioned nature-based infrastructure. That's one way in which we can help protect our coasts and help our wharves from losing gear. A lot of the gear is there, close to the coastline, and it can be lost in severe weather events. We want to see the protection of our coasts. Green infrastructure works with the existing coastline and the existing environment so that it kind of absorbs that rather than bounce it back and cause more issues. We're working with nature to help us through these issues.
The issue of ghost gear in Atlantic Canada still needs more support. It's in its infancy in terms of knowing what is out there and knowing the hot spots. Our hope is to have more funding from DFO—long-term funding, year after year, not just small yearly or short-term contracts—for long-term, sustainable solutions so that we can work with the fishing industry and work with captains to help prevent this, help work on the recycling end of things, and work on the solutions that are not just reactive.