France calls for rethink of EU fishing quotas

By Pierre Savary

BOULOUGNE-SUR-MER, France (Reuters) - France will use its presidency of the European Union later this year to call for a rethink the trade bloc's system of fishing quotas, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Saturday.

The annual quotas are designed to prevent stocks of species like cod collapsing due to overfishing, but trawlermen complain the controls and high fuel costs lead to increasing hardship.

"France will hold the presidency of the European Union from July 1 to December 31 and this is an opportunity to put quotas behind us," Sarkozy told 200-300 fishermen in northern France.

"We need a much more flexible solution than quotas, regardless of the species and location involved," he said.

"It is not scientists versus fishermen. Fishing is global and fishermen are the first to defend their resource."

In November, Sarkozy clashed with fishermen in a heated dockside exchange at a fishing port in western France, but turned jeers to applause with an offer of emergency aid.

France last week finalized a package of 310 million euros in aid to help the industry deal with high fuel prices.

Fishermen however blocked the cross-Channel ferry ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer for several hours on Tuesday.