EU approves new fish deal, revises Joe Borg's plans

European Union fisheries ministers emerged from a 20-hour meeting in Brussels at 6 a.m. yesterday with a new deal on fishing quotas for next year that waters down the European Commission's original proposals.

More fish will be caught by fleets than the Commission had envisaged. Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg had to change his proposed quotas following their rejection by some member states, including the UK.

Malta was represented at the EU Council by Environment and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino, who said that the only issue involving Malta was the tuna quota and it had managed to keep the same quota as the current year's.

Originally, Dr Borg had proposed to declare huge areas of ocean in the north off-limits for trawlers. However, the Commission had to bow to pressure and settle for less drastic alternatives.

Yesterday's decision was described as a breakthrough for the fishing industry but environmentalists were outraged. The World Wildlife Fund, criticising ministers for again failing to take decisive action, said stock recovery would be jeopardised.

During the final vote taken early yesterday, only Lithuania voted against the plans for next year's fisheries programme. Greece abstained.

In a press conference following the Council, Dr Borg said the new package would rebuild depleted stocks without economically crippling the fleets concerned. He said that EU member states had agreed to impose tougher monitoring restrictions to make sure fishermen do not exceed quotas.

Commission sources told The Times that restrictions will include a four-and-a-half month summer ban on cod fishing in the Baltic Sea while boats catching more than one ton of cod in the North Sea must have their hauls inspected.

Spanish and Portuguese boats will be limited to 22 days of fishing for squid and octopus a month and 20 days per month for sole fishing in the Atlantic.

Dr Borg said he was disappointed that member states did not agree to his original recommendations. He had proposed the creation of no-fishing zones off Scotland, Ireland and Denmark to let threatened stocks recover.

"The Commission would have liked to go further on a number of points but I believe that the agreement we have reached is a step in the right direction."

The Commission's had already failed to take on all the recommendations for fishing bans and reduced catch quotas made by independent experts. Taking out the no-fishing zones made imposing strict protection measures even more complicated.

Many countries, including Spain, France and Britain, stress the need to protect the livelihoods of their fishermen. Apart from the need to protect cod stocks, the Commission was seeking further catch cuts in such fish as hake, sole and plaice in areas where Spanish and French fishermen hunt for the diminishing stocks.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea had recommended a complete halt to cod fishing in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and west of Scotland, arguing stocks were seriously depleted. Scientists say North Sea stocks have shrunk to about a tenth of 1970 levels and warned of depletion on the scale of eastern Canadian waters, where cod disappeared in the 1990s and stocks have yet to recover.

Fishermen complain that the drastic cuts in allowable catches, by up to 80 per cent in Britain, have not had enough time yet to show their positive impact before stricter quotas are imposed.

Fishermen closed off two French ports on Monday to protest Dr Borg's plans.