Fisheries ministers from across the European Union have failed to agree on proposals for sweeping changs in the industry that could lead to thousands of job cuts.

The proposed shake-up could mean about 28,000 fishermen losing their jobs and 8,600 boats being laid up in order to reduce the industry's capacity by 8.5%, the European Commission has said.

The plan has, since it was put forward last month, split the EU's 15 member countries , with Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece strongly opposed to it.

"The proposal is politically unacceptable and technically wrong," Luis Frazao Gomes, Portuguese fisheries minister said.

But its author, EU Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler, defended his policies at the ministerial meeting in Luxembourg.

Standing firm

"I am not prepared to change the substance of the proposals," Mr Fischler said.

"Our fish and fishermen need a new policy. Without that, we are risking empty seas."

Despite the disagreement over the proposal, Mr Fischler said he was still hopeful a compromise could be reached.

Mr Fischler wants to set aside money to help redundant fishermen

Mr Fischler's plan would abolish the annual haggling over fishing quotas for each EU country, replacing it with a multi-year system.

He also wants to scrap an EU subsidy worth 460m euros ($433m; �296m) which is due to be spent on building and repairing trawlers over the next four years.

Mr Fischler is proposing the money should be spent instead on promoting alternative job options for fishermen.

Opponents of the policy say it will lead to high unemployment in poor areas.

France's fisheries minister, Herve Gaymard, told the meeting the boat-building subsidy was "non-negotiable."

Job losses

Mr Fischer's overall proposal was "unbalanced between the need to protect resources and the equal need to take account of the socio-economic dimension of fishing," said Mr Gaymard.

The debate is particularly awkward for Spain, which has Europe's biggest fishing fleet.

Its fleet of 18,000 fishing vessels would be cut by 10%.

As the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, Spain has a duty to act as a mediator in the row.

But Spain is also a leading opponent of Mr Fischler's proposals, which were first mooted last month.

Spanish fisheries minister Miguel Arias Canete has said the plan must be modified.

Across Europe about 8,000 fishermen a year are losing their jobs because of the industry's decline.

Fish stocks in EU waters have dropped by 90% in the last 25 years, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) believes.

The EU must come up with a new fisheries policy by January 2003.