As European fisheries ministers reach agreement on fishing quotas, BBC News Online looks at some of the issues which underlay the talks.

What is the disagreement about?

EU fisheries ministers were being pulled two ways: by the scientists who say fish stocks are dangerously low, and by trawlermen who warn of the dire economic consequences for local communities if their activities are curtailed again.

What have the scientists said about fish stocks?

In October, researchers for Ices (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), which is the organisation that coordinates and promotes scientific investigation in the North Atlantic, called once again for a swingeing cut in fishing "effort".

By effort Ices means the amount of time boats spend at sea and the quantity of fish landed. For cod, it actually recommended a ban on fishing off the west of Scotland, in the North Sea and in the Irish Sea until stocks had recovered.

And it is not just cod that the scientists say are in trouble. Ices advised that whiting in the Irish Sea and southern hake should not be fished either. Plaice, too, are now at close to historically low levels, Ices believes.

However, its report was not all negative. North Sea haddock stocks are the highest they have been for 30 years and north east Atlantic mackerel are also in good shape.

Fishermen say they are still finding and catching plenty of fish, and the scientists are being over-pessimistic. Some say even the cod are in reasonable shape.

Just before the collapse of the fisheries on Canada's Grand Banks in 1992, catches were good. Scientists call the phenomenon "hyper-aggregation" - the tendency of a hunted population to crowd together for safety, providing easy targets for the crews.

How did the European Commission react to the scientific advice?

Cod catches in the North Sea were slashed by 45% last year, and the Commission wants the same low quota for 2004.

For waters off the west of Scotland, a smaller cod area, it has proposed a 53% quota reduction. For sole, plaice and whiting, it wants catch cuts of up to 50% in waters around Britain and Ireland.

What has been the reaction of national governments?

They acknowledge the scientific advice but say local industries cannot simply be switched off. December is the time for horse-trading by EU fisheries ministers.

Their annual pre-Christmas round of fishing negotiations is long and hard. The UK Government supports a Commission plan to move to longer-term planning, called "a multi-annual approach".

This would let the industry adjust more easily to abrupt changes in fish stocks. The British hope their support for the proposal will persuade the Commission to be more generous on catch quotas.

What will be the impact on European fishermen of further restrictions?

They say jobs have been lost already and boats scrapped as a result of last year's quota reductions, and they warn that entire communities could be destroyed - the sort of thing that happened in Canada after the 1992 closure.

Fishermen fear the further restrictions now being talked about could, in some instances, slash by up to 40% the number of days they are allowed to spend at sea in each three-month period.

"It's inhuman, it's absolutely unacceptable. How can one expect a business these days to pay its taxes and its salaries with only 20, 30 or 40 days at sea allowed per quarter?" Hugues Autret, a French fishermen's union leader, told the French TV news channel LCI.