"We have succeeded today in doing something which has never been seen in the history of the EU, which is reform of the fisheries sector and the Common Fisheries Policy," EU Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler told a news conference.

"This decision was far from easy. It also means there will be a bitter pill to swallow in the short term. We want to bring cod back to an acceptable level," he said after five days of tough negotiations.

Germany and Sweden were the only nations to vote against the final compromise deal.

Scientists say cod stocks in northern EU waters are at their lowest levels ever recorded and had recommended a total ban on cod fishing, a drastic measure that the Commission avoided in order to minimise the economic impact for coastal communities.

For cod, a culinary staple in several European countries, the ministers agreed to a 45 percent cut for the North Sea against the 2002 quota. The Commission had first wanted a 79 percent cut.

This will be combined with compulsory cuts in the number of days vessels may spend at sea. In the case of North Sea cod, for example, this will be nine days every month.

Similar measures and a 45 percent quota cut will apply to hake, where stocks are also dangerously low. They will come into force on a temporary basis from February 1 until a final recovery plan for both species comes into effect from July 2003.

PHASE OUT AID FOR NEW VESSELS

EU ministers also agreed to phase out public aid for building new vessels from the end of 2004. While subsidies would still continue until then, they would be conditional on member states cutting back more ships than are added to the fleet.

There would also be new rules for aid to modernise vessels. For example, there will be no more subsidies to increase a vessel's fishing capacity.

The idea of tying up large numbers of boats for weeks on end had raised the hackles of countries such as Spain and France - home to the EU's largest and second largest fleets - and they were also dismayed by Commission proposals to trim subsidies.

Fischler said all countries had been forced to make painful compromises to reach the deal, which he said was urgent to address the desperate stock levels of cod and related species.

"For countries like Britain and Denmark, it will be very difficult to accept these measures. But they have said yes, because they are aware of their responsibilities," he said.

"Scientists have been demanding these measures for 12 years now. Eventually we have managed to achieve what our neighbours Norway did some time ago," he added.

Environmentalists slammed the final compromise and said the plan to save cod was too little, too late, while the gradual subsidy trimming was only a first step in the right direction.

The EU will continue to grant aid for scrapping vessels, as part of its long-term goal of trimming the overall size of fleets.

"COD SACRIFIED FOR POLITICS"

"Cod has been sacrificed for the sake of political agreement," said Julian Scola at the European Fisheries Campaign of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

"What the EU is doing is to allow that cod could become commercially extinct," he told Reuters.

Scottish fishermen monitoring the marathon talks said entire communities would be badly hit by the heavy quota cuts. They said the deal made large concessions to southern EU states but left Britain's fishing industry stranded.

"Scotland has got the worst deal in all of this. This is an attempt to destroy the Scottish whitefish fleet," said Alex Smith, president of Scotland's National Fishermen's Federation.

"This will not achieve what they are trying to achieve, and that is the recovery of cod. They (the Commission) have bought off everybody and the only people isolated now are the UK."

British Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley said his government was looking at ways to help the fishing industry through the coming difficulties as a matter of urgency.