Workshop calls for efficient statistics system on fisheries

Participants in a workshop on fishery statistics-- held part of a meeting of sea research institutes of Maghreban countries bordering the Mediterranean sea - called for setting up an efficient statistics compilation system on fisheries in the Mediterranean countries.

Participants noted that despite the interest granted by governments to data collection on sea stocks, the results remain fragmented and limited. They called for the adoption of a sound methodology for data collecting associating all concerned sides, to have accurate statistics on maritime fisheries.

The workshop shed light on the importance of statistics in assessing sea potentials and stressed the need to standardize statistics collecting systems in the region.

The meeting of sea research institutes of Maghreban countries bordering the Mediterranean sea, held in Rabat March 12-15, is part of the FAO regional project on fisheries cooperation in the Mediterranean. It is meant to promote south-south cooperation and identify topics of bilateral and multilateral research projects.

The FAO regional project on fisheries cooperation in the Mediterranean was initiated in 1996 to extend scientific, technical and financial backing to the general commission of fisheries in the Mediterranean.

Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia are associated to the project. The project budget, worth $1.0 million, is provided by Spain over the 1996-2001 period.