Report Of The Twenty Second Session Of The Coordinating Working Party On Fishery Statistics

Topics discussed at this meeting included options for enhancing regional fishery bodies and the FishCode Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries partnership; a review of progress by member organisations; aquaculture statistics; issues related to vessel and port classification; fishery data quality indicators; and the status of FishStat Plus.

Topics discussed at this meeting included options for enhancing regional fishery bodies and the FishCode Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries partnership; a review of progress by member organisations; aquaculture statistics; issues related to vessel and port classification; fishery data quality indicators; and the status of FishStat Plus.

This document contains the report of the twenty-fourth session of the Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics (CWP) held in Rome, Italy, from 5 to 8 February 2013. This was the first session after the Aquaculture and Fishery subject Groups were formally established. Two subject Groups had their own meetings to review the progress made and develop work plan for the next intersessional period prior to the main session. The main session received the report from the two Groups and approved the work plans presented. Other main topics discussed were the revision of International Statistical Standard Classifications of Fishing Gears (ISSCFG), the revision and future dissemination of the CWP Handbook, the review of status of "Rules of Procedure" and the improvement in visibility of CWP.

The Committee expressed concern about the level of fishing capacity which was higher than prior to the 2004 tsunami in some of the areas affected by the disaster and recognized that it called for the design and implementation of sustainable and effective fisheries management arrangements that included a gradually phasing out fishing overcapacity, monitoring, access and livelihood considerations. The Committee reaffirmed its trust in FAO to play a coordinating role in advancing the global aquaculture agenda and highlighted the importance of addressing socio-economic impacts of aquaculture and other issues, such as improving planning and policy development at national and regional levels. The Committee agreed to give greater attention to small-scale fisheries and welcomed the convening of a broad-based international conference focusing specifically on small-scale fisheries.

The report of the thirteenth session of the Coordinating Working Party on Atlantic Fishery Statistics (CWP) held in Rome, Italy, 11-18 February 1987, is presented. The EC Commission, FAO, ICCAT, ICES, ICSEAF, NAFO, OECD were the participating agencies. Major topics considered were: review of recommendations and proposals from CWP-12 and progress; agency programmes and publications presenting Atlantic fishery statistics; statistics on discards; review of the operation of the STATLANT system; procedures for handling discrepancies in databases; Ad-Hoc Global Consultation on Tuna Statistics; integration of value data into databases; STATLANT B data; handbook of fishery statistics; aquaculture enquiries; fishing fleet statistics; nationality issues; food balance sheets.

Topics discussed were: review of membership; progress since CWP-20 (from each member organization); review of the development of FIGIS and FIRMS (for information); CWP's advocacy role; review of recommendations from CWP-20; FISHSTAT; vessel size measurement for statistical purposes (Vessel length, Loa, Lp-p,); aquaculture statistics; fishery data quality indicators; recommendations relating to CWP from the FAO Expert Consultation on Data Formats and Procedures for Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (Bergen, Norway, 25-27 October 2004); and the 28 February-1 March 2005 Workshop on the Role of Regional Fishery Bodies in the Implementation of the Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries (RFB-STF Workshop).