 The Scottish Executive opposed the plans to close cod grounds |
Scotland's Fisheries Minister Ross Finnie has welcomed the European Commission's decision to drop plans to close fishing areas in the North Sea. The proposal was shelved during talks in Brussels to set next year's limits.
But the EC said it wanted the number of days fisherman can spend at sea to be cut from 15 to 13 instead.
That is opposed by Mr Finnie, who said the plan did not take into account the radical reduction in Scotland's fishing fleet over the last two years.
He said the proposal was not supported either by scientific evidence about the state of fish stocks.
The 25 European Union fisheries ministers will now discuss the revised proposal.
Preserve stocks
The dropping of the closure plan has been seen as a victory for Mr Finnie and his UK counterpart Ben Bradshaw.
Speaking earlier, Mr Finnie told BBC Scotland that international opposition had been growing against plans to close cod fishing grounds in a bid to preserve stocks.
He said there was "substantial" support for Scottish opposition to plans for closures and a reduction in fishing days.
"We believe we have quite strong support from the Danes, from the Dutch, from the French and other member states in the North Sea and also the Irish," he said.
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UK fishing's decline
