Around 730 fishing vessels, mostly Spanish, have been tied up in port since a previous accord was scrapped at the end of April and Morocco is demanding a sharp cut in catches before signing a new pact.

"They exchanged views on the number of fisheries inspectors in ports and on boats," said a European Commission spokeswoman, adding that if fishing controls were properly enforced it would help solve the problem over quotas.

In earlier talks, Morocco demanded a 65 percent cut in catches of octopus and squid and a 50 percent cut in shrimp and hake trawling over three years.

Discussion of quotas has not yet started in this round.

"The pace of talks is still fairly slow," said the spokeswoman.

An EU compromise proposal, originally envisaged on Monday, is now expected towards the end of the week after the return of EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino to Brussels.

A holiday in Rabat has also made it difficult for the Moroccan delegation to refer back for instructions.

Some progress was made during the weekend on scientific cooperation and training of Moroccan fishermen, which under the 1992-96 EU-Morocco fisheries agreement was allocated around $12 million, the spokeswoman said.

The agreement is the E s most important external fisheries pact, providing a living for 28,000 people in southern Spain, the Canary islands and Portugal.