Europe's fisheries chief made a first gesture today towards a deal on next year's permitted EU catches, offering slightly more generous volumes for species whose numbers are dangerously low after years of overfishing.
In its 2006 plan for fish quotas, the European Commission has recommended modest catch reductions - far less drastic than in previous years - along with a few seasonal closures of waters to protect species where stocks are worryingly depleted.
In a compromise offer designed to win over more reluctant EU states like Spain and France, the Commission has diluted part of its original plan and offered small quota increases for plaice, anchovy and cod in areas to benefit these countries' fleets.
"The Commission has accepted to increase TACs (annual catches) in cases where does this not mean that we will make the situation worse than it is today," EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg told the bloc's 25 fisheries ministers.
The negotiations, often an overnight marathon, are expected to run through tomorrow and maybe into early Thursday morning.
Diplomats and officials said they were surprised the first attempt at a compromise deal did not include more on "fishing effort": EU jargon for the maximum number of days vessels may spend at sea, another way of limiting volumes of fish caught.
"The compromise doesn't change much and there aren't many surprises. We were expecting more on reductions of days at sea," one EU official said.
While cod stocks are in a slightly less perilous state than last year, scientists have again called for a blanket ban on cod fishing in areas like the North Sea and western Scottish waters.
Instead, the Commission wants to cut the 2006 cod quota by up to 15 per cent depending on the area and also the time spent at sea by cod-fishing vessels. Diplomats say this will be one of the most difficult parts of the annual fish negotiations.
The Commission says cod stocks are in a "truly alarming" state in many areas like the North and Irish Seas, waters off western Scotland and between Denmark and Sweden -- and so low in some waters that scientists cannot reliably estimate numbers.
Trawlers that catch species like haddock and monkfish would be subject to extra restrictions to stop them picking up too many cod by accident. Scientists say more than half of the cod killed are caught accidentally in nets designed for other fish.