THE Government yesterday claimed to have won a reprieve in the struggle to keep the fishing industry's long-term hopes alive.

After 30 hours of talks in Brussels it secured another year of catch quotas that it claimed trawlermen could live with.

But fishermen greeted the news with mixed feelings and are still unhappy about the controls on high-value cod.

"It's two cheers rather than three," said Scarborough skipper Fred Normandale.

"We are still at war with the scientists who claim the cod is at danger levels. There are still plenty of cod out there."

The Brussels talks also secured a pledge of long-term arrangements to end the ritual year-on-year bartering over fishing levels and days at sea.

The agreement came after all-night negotiations on how to preserve ample fishing, but avoid the threatened total collapse of cod and hake stocks.

It included a 53 per cent increase in the amount of haddock that could be caught and a 30 per cent increase for North Sea prawns,

UK fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw claimed it was a good deal for UK fishermen. "We have successfully defended the number of days our boats are allowed to fish and we have got a long-term recovery programme for cod.

"A realistic approach to long-term recovery of cod stocks has been taken. The Government, working closely with fishing industry leaders, has achieved measures which will help restore stocks of cod round our coast.

"We took an approach which reflects the need for conservation of all our fish stocks while protecting the economic interests of the industry."