The European Union has struck a deal with Norway on fishing rights for 2008, agreeing to reduce amounts of most of the seven species that both sides catch in shared waters, the EU executive said. But for next year, they agreed to raise their catch of North Sea cod by 11 percent to 22,152 tonnes, with the bulk going to EU fleets, saying stock numbers had improved recently.

The EU usually tries to reach a deal with non-EU member Norway on joint fishing before mid-December, when it sets internal quotas for the next year. Negotiations are always tense.

The deal was reached despite a warning by a group of international scientists in October, who called for the 2008 cod catch to be set at less than half of 2006 levels.

But the European Commission cited scientific surveys issued in October that showed the number of young North Sea cod had in fact increased, although only to half of the long-term average. The catch increase for the EU and Norwegian fleets was fixed on condition that the EU reduced its cod discards, or unwanted fish dumped overboard, down to 10 percent.

Young fish make up the majority of discards and most of them are dead or dying when they are thrown back into the sea - so reducing the amount of discards would allow more juveniles to survive, raising the chances of a rise in overall fish numbers.

Under a yearly deal, EU trawlers fish for cod in Norway's part of the North Sea -- the species is largely depleted in the EU due to years of overfishing - while Norwegian fishermen catch capelin and Greenland halibut in EU waters.

For herring and whiting, where numbers are depleted, the EU and Norway cut their joint catch by 41 percent and 25 percent respectively. There were lesser cuts agreed for haddock, mackerel and plaice, while the saithe quota was raised slightly. The two sides have set up long-term management plans to protect dwindling numbers of cod, haddock, saithe and herring in their shared waters. Work is due to start in early 2008 on a similar long-term plan for plaice.

Norway, together with Iceland and Liechtenstein, is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), a free-trade deal that guarantees access to 80 percent of the EU's internal markets.

In the past, the EU has accused Norway of overfishing and bargains hard on behalf of member states such as Britain and Germany to get as much cod quota from Norway as possible. At the same time, countries such as Ireland are reluctant to give away much on fishing rights for mackerel.