EU 'reaches agreement' on 2009 fish quotas

BRUSSELS - EU fisheries ministers reached agreement Friday on 2009 fish quotas, with a big increase in allowed catches of cod in the North Sea but cuts elsewhere, officials said.

North Sea cod quotas will be raised by 30 percent from 2008 levels, the first such rise in a long time, the officials said on the second day of negotiations.

While quotas will be lifted, fishermen will have to use nets and gear that allow more targeted catches so that other fish are not hauled in as well, which currently leads to tonnes of fish that have to be discarded.

In other Atlantic fishing zones, cod quotas will be cut with the exception of the Celtic Sea south of Irealnd, officials said.