By Peter Blackburn

BRUSSELS, Oct 13 (Reuter) - Proposals to cut catches by up to 40 percent over six years to curb chronic overfishing are set to provoke a storm of protest at a meeting of European Union fisheries ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, diplomats said. Since Britain, France and other major fishing nations dismissed the plans as unacceptable in June, EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino has held 60 meetings with regional fishing groups and governments to clarify the measures. Spain, which has reduced its fishing fleet - the EU's biggest - from 650,000 tonnes to 450,000 in the last 10 years, made clear in June that any further cuts in catches must take account of those already made. Although all agree that there are too many fishermen chasing too few fish, sharp differences remain over the remedy. Ministers will be asked on Monday to give political guidelines on key points ranging from an assessment of scientific advice on fish stocks to aid for fishing communities. "There are a lot of problems to look at," said one

diplomat, adding that the Irish EU Presidency's objective of reaching agreement in November was "rather optimistic." Britain has insisted that the EU must first deal with "quota hoppers" -- boats from one EU state that register in another so as to grab part of that country's fish quota. Others have said that the proposed cuts are excessive and would cause heavy job losses in poor coastal areas with no other prospect of employment. Diplomats said ministers were likely to be unimpressed by the Italian fisheries commissioner's clarification on Thursday that the main target of the cuts was catches, not boats, and job losses would be much lower than feared. "The 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," Bonino said. "That's false." Bonino explained that cuts of 40 percent would only be made for catches of the most endangered stocks, such as cod, haddock and sardines. For others such as tropical t

una, Baltic herring and sprats, no cuts were envisaged. But Bonino said the fleet must still be reduced. "A partial reduction is absolutely necessary," she said, explaining this was the best way to permanently cut capacity. Some countries, notably the Netherlands and Britain, are lagging targets set in a 1992-96 EU fleet reduction programme. But Britain hopes to catch up most of a 10 percent shortfall now that it is operating an scheme to compensate skippers for laying up vessels. In response to criticism, Bonino said the programme would be made more flexible by being adjusted not only for the type of fish species but also fishing gear and zones. Small, inshore fishing vessels, which make up most of the EU fleet and jobs, would be exempted from the cuts. EU aid, amounting to 460 million Ecus ($575 million), or a total of 2.8 billion Ecus ($3.3 billion) would be available between 1994-99 to ease the pain of restructuring. Ministers are likely to seek a commitment that substantial aid will also be available fo

r 1999-2002, the final three years of the fisheries restructuring programme - the fourth and most draconian to date, diplomats said. Some are likely to argue that the cuts should be eased because they don't take account of Baltic stocks or more recent scientific data showing a recovery in some areas. Others will point to improved fisheries controls, notably a satellite tracking system due to be approved on Monday, which reduce the need for drastic cuts.