Scottish fishermen's leaders are optimistic that European ministers will ignore calls to cut their annual North Sea quotas by up to 50%.

Those in the industry believe they have won support for their opposition to massive reductions in the amount of cod they would be allowed to catch.

The chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), Hamish Morrison, believes such a move could lead to thousands of job losses throughout the industry.

Our key aim is to secure a sustainable future for our fishing industry and we will work with the industry to achieve this

Ross Finnie Environment Minister

However, the two sides are still far from agreement on the way forward for the industry.

UK Fisheries Minister Eliot Morley and his Scottish counterpart Ross Finnie were among those attending an EU meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

Mr Finnie said no decisions could be made until the panel of European Commission scientists studying present stocks had delivered their report.

This advice, expected at the end of the week, could confirm that the collapse of North Sea cod stocks is close to being irreversible.

Recovery would require a major cutback in the catch.

Hamish Morrison: "Very dispiriting"

Mr Finnie said: "It is unlikely to be good news and we must consider all of the options, including effort control, if we are serious about securing a healthy cod and haddock stock on which much of the industry depends.

"The council did not take any decisions on effort control today, but we took the opportunity to emphasise that any decision must be based on the latest science, taking into account previous evidence.

"Our key aim is to secure a sustainable future for our fishing industry and we will work with the industry to achieve this."

Mr Morrison said current scientific evidence on the North Sea stocks is outdated and does not reflect the recent findings of the fishing fleets.

He said: "The scientists' work is nearly two years old. Ours was earlier this year.

Scientific assessment

"It shows certainly that within the North Sea there is a fair fishing of cod in the north part, but a very poor fishing in the southern part.

"The problem is that the scientific assessment is liable to average the two."

It has been estimated that about 1,000 jobs would be lost if the cuts are imposed but Mr Morrison said the figure would be much higher.

He said: "A 50% cut would be a hell of a lot more than 1,000 jobs. It would be nearer 4,000.

Ross Finnie attended the meeting

"If you then multiply that up by the shoreside dependency, it does not take you very long to get to 10,000.

"The cod stocks are this year 50,000 tonnes of allowable catch. I see no reason why on scientific evidence we cannot maintain the same quota as last year.

"We should also understand that the North Sea catch is a very small part of the total North East Atlantic fishery, which has 750,000 tonnes of cod."

Tories fisheries spokesman Jamie McGrigor MSP claimed Scottish and UK ministers had shown no signs of having heard the industry's concerns.

"If passed, this latest quota cut will drive yet another nail into the coffin of the Scottish fishing industry, costing hundreds of jobs in already hard-pressed communities," he warned.