RABAT, April 27 (Reuter) - Morocco will bar more than 700 European Union fishing vessels, the majority of them Spanish, from its waters from midnight on Sunday after failing to reach agreement on Thursday on a new fishing accord.

EU sources said Morocco refused to extend the present three-year pact, which expires on April 30, as it did when the first fishing accord expired in 1987, while talks continued.

"Morocco confirmed that it is not disposed to prolonging the current agreement. So as of April 30, our boats will stop activities in Moroccan waters," an EU source said after talks ended in Rabat. They will resume in Brussels on May 12.

The source said both sides were divided on the crucial issue of reducing catches to preserve fish stocks. Rabat wants cuts of 30, 50 and 65 percent, depending on the species of fish. The EU says these are unacceptable levels.

"There is divergence over the level of the reductions. Our respective positions are very far apart," the EU source.

The source said the EU agreed to the principle of cuts but wanted them spread over a new three-year accord.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino said in Rabat earlier this week that she believed it would take another three to five weeks to conclude a new accord. She said EU fishermen would be compensated for the temporary loss of their livelihoods.

Moroccan negotiators, who want to halve the number of vessels allowed to fish in their rich Atlantic waters, had no immediate comment. They also want catches landed at their ports.

Morocco has stood its ground in the talks, saying any accord should serve as a model for its future relations with the EU, whose members are its leading trading partners. It is also in competition with Spain for exports of citrus and tomatoes.

The expiring accord with Morocco, the EU's most important external fisheries agreement, provided a livelihood for 28,000 fishermen and fish processors in Spain, the Canary Islands and Portugal.

For Morocco, the fishing industry gives jobs to 400,000 people and accounts for 15 percent of total exports. Morocco exported 197,200 tonnes of fish worth $567 million in 1994.

Under the present agreement, Morocco received about $130 million a year for fishing rights and was granted preferential EU tariffs for exports of tinned sardines.