BRUSSELS, March 12 (Reuter) European Union officials met on Sunday to discuss tactics in the fish dispute with Canada, a European Commission spokesman said.

The meeting, which one EU diplomat said was "essentially a stock taking exercise", prepared the ground for discussions scheduled for Monday on possible trade sanctions against Ottawa.

"This was of course one of the issues we have to prepare," spokesman Josep Coll told Reuters when asked whether sanctions were discussed on Sunday.

He said the Commission was working on a list of possible sanctions to present to the EU's 15 member countries on Monday.

Canada and the European Union have been at loggerheads since Thursday's seizure by Canada of the Estai, a Spanish fishing vessel, which cranked up a rumbling EU Canada row about fishing rights in the north Atlantic.

The Estai was fishing for Greenland halibut 28 miles outside Canada's 200 mile limit when it was chased, attacked and boarded by a Canadian government ship.

The seized trawler was escorted into St. John's harbour in Newfoundland on Sunday where Canadian fisheries officials prepared to bring charges against the boat, its captain and owners.

European Union negotiators in Brussels had no face to face talks with the Canadians on Sunday, Coll said, though he added that informal contacts had taken place.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino on Friday ruled out talks with Ottawa so long as the Estai was in Canadian hands.

Bonino, on a visit to Africa, issued a statement on Sunday deploring the use of the Estai as a bargaining tool.

"I cannot accept that (an EU) fishing vessel and its equipment be used as a means of pressure against the European Union," the statement said.