LUXEMBOURG, June 10 (Reuter) - British Fisheries Minister Tony Baldry attacked on Monday a European Commission proposal to sharply reduce fishing fleets, saying the EU must first tackle the problem of "quota hoppers". The issue is set to inflame further Britain's row with Europe. Already on Monday British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind had received an "angry" reception from EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg over London's tactics of disrupting EU business to try to force its partners to lift a worldwide ban on British beef imposed due to a health scare over mad cow disease. "Their proposal on reducing the fleet by some 40 percent is wholly unacceptable and we want to ensure that the Community addresses the whole issue of quota hoppers," Baldry told reporters on entering a meeting of fisheries ministers. An estimated 150, mainly Spanish and Dutch vessels have registered in Britain, catch around 20 percent of Britain's fish quota but land the fish in other EU countries. "Clearly a situation whereby

Spanish crewed, Spanish skippered, Spanish owned boats fishing out of Spain are able to take fish from the U.K. quota is clearly crazy and cannot continue," Baldry added. Diplomats said the Netherlands and Ireland were also upset by the Commission's proposal for further drastic fleet cuts over the next six years to save dwindling stocks. Even countries such as Spain, Portugal and Denmark, described by EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino as "good guys" for meeting previous EU fleet reduction targets, are expected to demand that the cuts should be eased. Protestors from the environmental organisation Greenpeace urged ministers to take tough measures to conserve North Sea herring stocks which Greenpeace says have been decimated in recent years by "hoover" fishing. "The EU must avoid the downward spiral in stocks," Greenpeace fisheriescampaigner Just van den Broek told Reuters. Ministers will try during talks over lunch to fix guidelines on the approach and period for the fleet cuts. The Commission plans to st

art bilateral talks with member states in mid-June on detailed national cutbacks with the aim of reaching overall agreement in the autumn.