Established by Resolution 23/59 of the FAO Conference under Article VI-2 of the Organization’s Constitution at its Tenth Session in 1959. It was called “Continuing Working Party on Fishery Statistics in the North Atlantic Area”. The establishment of this Working Party was the outcome of the recommendations of an Expert Meeting on Fishery Statistics in the North Atlantic Area held in Edinburgh in September 1959. The Statutes of CWP were amended and approved by the FAO Council at its Hundred and Eighth Session in June 1995.
Area of Competence
Although the area of competence of the Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics has been the Atlantic Ocean since 1995 its area of competence has no geographical limitations. It covers the requirements for fishery statistics of all fisheries including aquaculture.
Species Covered
All species are covered by CWP.
Membership
The Working Party is composed of experts nominated by intergovernmental organizations which have competence in fishery statistics. The following are the participating organizations initially:
Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO)
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Statistical Office of the European Communities (EU/Eurostat)
Participating organizations may admit other intergovernmental organizations having competence in fishery statistics. Participating organizations may withdraw from the Working Party. In 1995, International Whaling Commission (IWC) made a formal request to become a participating organization in CWP.
Objectives and Activities
The objectives of the CWP are to: (a) keep under continuous review the requirements for fishery statistics (including aquaculture) for the purposes of research, policy-making and management, taking into account inter alia their purpose, usefulness, cost, burden in collection and collation, timeliness, quality, confidentiality needs and regional differences; (b) agree standard concepts, definitions, classifications and methodologies for the collection and collation of fishery statistics; and (c) make proposals and recommendations for action in relation to the collection, collation and dissemination of fishery statistics, recognizing the need to coordinate activities so as to avoid duplication.
The CWP supported by the participating organizations has served since 1960 as the premier international and inter-organization forum for agreeing common definitions, classifications and standards for the collection of fishery statistics. It has developed common procedures for statistics collation which have streamlined the collation process and reduced the burden on national fisheries statistical offices. It has provided technical advice on fishery statistical matters to participating organizations and has facilitated the publication of methodological and reference documents. In the process it has shaped the statistical programmes of all participating organizations to some extent, and those of FAO in particular, while leaving organizations with complete autonomy in their area of responsibility.
The new statutes for the CWP were designed to provide a sound basis for the Working Party to meet the challenges resulting from the enhanced role of regional fishery organizations in relation to statistics following the UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, and to facilitate the participation of other agencies with a remit for fisheries statistics outside the Atlantic.
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[113] This information is
unchaged from FIPL Circular 908. |
