BRUSSELS, Oct 10 (Reuter) - European fisheries commissioner Emma Bonino, facing strong opposition to plans to combat chronic overfishing, stressed on Thursday the aim was to cut catches, rather than vessels or jobs, by up to 40 percent over six years. In May, the EU's executive Commission warned that fish stocks were continuing to deteriorate and drastic action was needed to safeguard the future of the industry. "There has been a misunderstanding...," Bonino told a news conference. "The (EU) Commission is accused of wishing to `break up 40 percent of our fleets', sacrificing jobs and means of production that could be used when stocks have recovered." "That's false," the Italian commissioner insisted, saying the plan was to reduce catches by up to 40 percent for only the most endangered stocks such as cod, haddock, sardines, salmon and hake. It does not mean a corresponding reduction in the fleet. "Brussels is also accused of wiping out 40 percent of (fishing industry) jobs. That's also wrong," Bonino said. B

onino recognised that the changes would be especially painful for coastal communities with few other sources of employment. She pointed out, however, that 460 million Ecus ($575 million) or a total of 2.8 billion Ecus ($3.5 billion) between 1994-99 to ease the restructuring. The Commission was ready to help smooth the change. "We believe that market forces alone would impose a law of the jungle leading to an unequal decimation of fleets and above all a decimation of stocks which could never be reversed," she said. EU fisheries ministers are expected strongly to attack the proposals at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday. But Ireland, which holds the EU presidency, hopes that political guidelines will be set to enable an agreement to be reached in November.