REUTER 14/3/1995

MADRID Spain on Tuesday rejected a Canadian charge that its fishing boats off Newfoundland were catching undersize fish, saying no minimum size had yet been established for Greenland halibut.

"It has not been sufficiently studied and we still do not know when it reaches sexual maturity," an Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry spokesman told Reuters.

The spokesman said the North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) had not yet set a minimum size for the fish, which Canada says is under threat from European fishermen.

"They cannot make accusations of catching undersize fish. It's absurd," the spokesman said.

Canada last Thursday seized a Spanish boat fishing for Greenland halibut in international waters and has charged the captain with illegal fishing, provoking a major a diplomatic row with the European Union.