The IATTC received funds from the FAO-GEF Common Oceans program for a project aimed at improving data collection for shark fisheries in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). The goals of the project include identifying and describing available fishery data sources for shark species in the EPO, as well as incorporating new and existing data on shark fisheries into a database suitable for stock assessments. In addition, as part of the capacity-building aspect of project, aimed at developing IATTC member countries, two workshops were planned, one on Shark Data Collection and the other on Data-Limited Assessment Methods for Shark Species.

La CIAT recibió fondos del programa FAO-FMAM Océanos Comunes para un proyecto dirigido a mejorar la recolección de datos de pesquerías tiburoneras en el Océano Pacífico oriental (OPO). Los objetivos del pro-yecto incluyen la identificación y descripción de las fuentes de datos de pesca disponibles para especies de tiburones en el OPO, así como la incorporación de datos nuevos y existentes de pesquerías tiburoneras en una base de datos adecuada para la evaluación de poblaciones. Además, como parte del aspecto de fomento de capacidad del proyecto, dirigido a los países miembros de la CIAT en desarrollo, se programaron dos ta-lleres, uno sobre la recolección de datos de tiburones y el otro sobre métodos de evaluación de especies de tiburones con datos limitados.

The First meeting of the WECAFC/OSPESCA/CRFM/CITES/CFMC working group on shark conservation and management was held in Barbados on 17-19 October 2017. The meeting brought together more than 30 shark fisheries experts, conservationists, marine biologists and fisheries officers from 15 WECAFC members, regional fisheries bodies, fisheries technical advisory institutions, non-governmental organizations, and other relevant stakeholders.

The 2nd meeting of the Regional Working Group on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, was held in Barbados in the period 19 - 21 September 2017. The Regional Working Group on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (RWG-IUU) 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 main aim of this workshop was capacity building of the national observers and researchers collecting or analyzing data from tuna longline vessels operating out of Indonesia. Furthemore, that the use of best practice seabird bycatch mitigation measures is enhanced and accelerated by fleets operating in critical fishing areas of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.