Commission says fishing off Canada is legal

BRUSSELS - The European Commission reiterated on Monday that Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels have a legal right to catch Greenland halibut (turbot) in international waters off the coast of Newfoundland.

Canada seized the Spanish trawler Estai on March 9, releasing it six days later, in a long-running dispute over the protection of dwindling fish stocks straddling national and international waters.

"EU vessels have full fishing rights in these waters," Fisheries spokesman Marco Zatterin told a news conference.

Zatterin said Canadian fisheries experts flew back to Canada after discussions on Friday with the Commission on fisheries conservation and control.

No date was set for another meeting but both sides remain in telephone contact.

"The Commission wants to settle the affair in (NAFO) Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation," he added.

A special NAFO meeting called this week was cancelled after Canada and Russia refused to attend. Canada, which has criticised NAFO's conservation and enforcement record, says such a meeting would be premature.

Fisheries will be one of the main items on the agenda during a visit of Canadian parliamentarians to the European Parliament this week.