The European Parliament has backed reforms to end overfishing and restore EU sea stocks to healthy levels by 2020.
The passing of the vote was described as a landmark victory by campaigners and green groups that had been seeking the measures for several years.
The changes will end the practice of "discards". This occurs when fishermen throw fish back into the sea because they exceed their quota or have caught species for which they have no quota.
Wasteful discards are estimated to account for a quarter of total catches under the current quota system. The planned changes are being described as the biggest reform of the Common Fisheries Policy since the 1970s. The policy sets fishing quotas for member states and operates market interventions.
If approved the proposals will take effect from next year. Limits will be set so fishermen can catch no more than a given stock can reproduce in a year.
Political deal
The final agreement must be approved by the European Parliament and endorsed by the European Union's 27 governments.
The Irish Government, as holder of the rotating EU presidency, has said it hopes to get a political deal on the proposed reforms by the end of June.
EU fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki said she was "especially pleased with the parliament's support for a policy that is based on exploiting fisheries resources sustainably".
Some 80 per cent of Mediterranean and 47 per cent of Atlantic stocks are overfished, according to the commission.
Punishment
Last year, the commission said France, Portugal and Spain were guilty of repeated overfishing and it reduced their catch quotas as a punishment.
The reform also shifts the focus to long-term planning, which could limit the pre-Christmas all-night haggling to agree annual quotas.
Fianna Fáil MEP Pat "the Cope" Gallagher said the reform was a "significant victory for Ireland" as it included his amendment on the Hague Preferences: "The Hague Resolution of 1976 reinforces the right of Ireland to protect, sustain and develop its coastal communities and I am pleased that the European Parliament decided to support my amendment seeking to enshrine the Hague agreement into the reform." He said the reform also protected the "Irish Box" which is a nursery for juvenile fish.
- (Additional reporting Reuters)
Fishing industry: By the numbers
75%of Europe's stocks are overfished
80%of Mediterranean and 47 per cent of Atlantic stocks are overfished
70%the decline in cod over 10 years
502MEPs voted for reforms while 137 voted against
