Introduction
The Coordinating Working Party on Fishery
Statistics (CWP) provides a mechanism to coordinate
fishery statistical programmes of regional fishery
bodies and other inter-governmental organizations
with a remit for fishery statistics. Functional
since 1960, the CWP's purpose is to (i) keep under
continuous review the requirements for fishery
statistics for research, policy-making and
management; (ii) agree standard concepts,
definitions, classifications and methodologies for
the collection and collation of fishery statistics;
and (iii) make proposals for the coordination and
streamlining of statistical activities amongst
relevant intergovernmental organizations.
The CWP has strongly facilitated improved data
collection through standardized statistical
reporting systems and is now looking ahead to
efficiently coordinate and exchange this data with
participating organizations.
Although first mandated to cover North Atlantic
fisheries, since 1995 the CWP has extended its
remit to all marine water bodies.
As of January 2001, there were 13 participating
organizations in the CWP:
- Commission for the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(CCAMLR)
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO)
- Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
(IOTC)
- Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
(IATTC)
- International Commission for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
- International Council for the Exploration
of the Sea (ICES)
- International Whaling Commission
(IWC)
- North Atlantic Salmon Conservation
Organization (NASCO)
- Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
(NAFO)
- Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)
- Secretariat of the Pacific Community
(SPC)
- Statistical Office of the European
Communities (Commission of the
EU/Eurostat)
The FAO serves as the CWP Secretariat.
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