Europe's exotic deepwater fish, some of which can live up to 150 years, won more protection from the European Union yesterday as fisheries ministers agreed to hefty quota cuts for the next two years.

Bearing names like forkbeard, black scabbardfish, greater silver smelt and roundnose grenadier, Europe's deep-sea fish grow and reproduce far more slowly than fish in shallower waters and are far more vulnerable to overfishing.

In European waters, deep-sea fish are mainly found in the north Atlantic at depths of 400 metres and more.

With the depletion of mainstay commercial fish such as cod and hake in recent years, they have become an attractive catch as trawlers switch from their regular fishing grounds.

The European Commission, which monitors fishing quotas and regulations for the bloc's 27 member countries, had wanted 2009 catch reductions to range up to 50 per cent from this year, followed by cuts of up to 100 per cent in 2010.

Speaking at a news conference following the ministers' meeting, EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said there would be no fishing at all for deep-sea sharks after 2010.

But allowance had to be made for the fact that these fish were often scooped up as a by-catch with other species, and then thrown back into the sea when they did not survive, he said.

"We managed to secure a meaningful agreement which will considerably reduce fishing pressure on these vulnerable stocks, while at the same time trying to keep discards to the lowest possible level," Mr Borg said.

"For deep-sea sharks, we have agreed to reduce the TAC (total allowable catch) to zero while providing an allowance of 10 per cent to cover inevitable by-catch and avoid discards."

Fishing for orange roughy, one of the most valuable and vulnerable deep-sea species that can live for 150 years, would also end from 2010, he said. Quotas for black scabbardfish would be cut by 10 per cent next year and a further seven per cent in 2010, while there would be two successive 15 per cent reductions for roundnose grenadier in 2009 and 2010, Mr Borg said.

France, Spain and Portugal rank among the EU countries with the most developed deep-sea fishing industries, followed by Britain and Ireland.