The settlement includes a 16 per cent increase in the cod quota, offset by a 15 per cent reduction in both whiting and haddock. There will also be a small reduction in the mackerel quota from the Norwegian grounds.

Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Fisheries Secretary said the talks were both tough and complex but he believd the best possible deal had been struck and this included extra cod quotas. Bertie Armstrong, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, said the difficult issue had been the  access to EU waters for Norway to complete fishing its quota of mackerel, and in return a reasonable longer-term bilateral arrangement for the continued sustainable fishing of this very important stock.

He added: ""Normally, this is settled on an annual basis. But now the new agreement will cover a ten-year period which will be reviewed after five years. This will give some needed certainty to this fishery." But he conceded that not every detail would suit every
party.

Negotiations broke down before Christmas which put some parts of the main annual round of quota talks on hold for the time being. Italso led to some anger in Norway with calls for a total ban on all EU boats from Norwegian waters. The heat has now been taken out of this dispute.

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