The Working Party received national reports of each of the countries and examined the status of fisheries catch and effort data and statistics. It discussed minimum data requirements for effective fisheries management in five generic fisheries types: industrial shrimp, artisanal shrimp, trap fisheries, demersal line and beach seine fisheries.

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).

The first meeting of the Regional Fisheries Data and Statistics Working Group (FDS-WG) was convened in Barbados from 14-16 May 2018. The Regional FDS WG is a joint working group of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), and Organization for Fisheries and Aquaculture of Central America (OSPESCA). The 26 participating experts, representing 16 WECAFC members, were presented with and discussed key documents meant to build the foundation of this new working group. La primera reunión del Grupo de trabajo regional sobre datos y estadísticas de pesca (GTDEP) se celebró en Barbados, del 14 al 16 de mayo de 2018. El GTDEP regional es un grupo de trabajo conjunto de la Comisión de Pesca para el Atlántico Centro-Occidental (COPACO), el Mecanismo Regional de Pesca del Caribe (CRFM) y la Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acuícola del Istmo Centroamericano (OSPESCA). Se presentaron a los 26 expertos participantes, en representación de los 16 miembros de la COPACO, y se debatieron documentos importantes para sentar las bases de este nuevo grupo de trabajo.

Three major topics were considered. The first concerned the future role of the CWP following its reconstitution and the adoption of new statutes and rules of procedure. The second major topic concerned international initiatives of relevance to the CWP. The third major topic concerned the improvement of the reliability of fishery statistics, including consideration of the consequences and extent of the problem of non-reporting and mis-reporting. Other topics considered included a review of recommendations from the Fifteenth Session of CWP; modifications to programmes in relation to fishery statistics; exchange of national fishery statistics on electronic media; modifications to STATLANT questionnaires; discrepencies among agency databases; bycatch and discard data; recreational and subsistence fishery statistics; fleet statistics; aquaculture statistics; conversion factors; country and nationality issues, and economic statistics.