BRUSSELS, April 13 (Reuter) - Controversial plans to slash fish catches to safeguard endangered stocks and ensure the survival of Europe's fishing industry are likely to be agreed this week after months of fierce argument. European Union diplomats and officials said a large majority of member states, Britain excepted, has welcomed a compromise of the Dutch EU Presidency softening cuts proposed by EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino and making them more flexible. "We are confident we can find a solution," a Dutch EU Presidency official said, but warned that, if no agreement is reached this month, the 15-nation bloc will stop aid worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually to help fishermen find other jobs or retire. The aid mainly goes to southern countries with large numbers of small vessels. "Most member states feel the time is now ripe for a decision," a diplomat from a major fishing nation said. But the diplomat added that there was still much haggling ahead at the two-day meeting, starting in Luxemb

ourg on Monday, over the rate and shape of the cuts, size of exempted small fishing vessels and fleet renewal rules. Although all agree there are too many fishermen hunting too few fish, ministers have sharply differed over the remedy. Countries, such as Spain, Portugal and Denmark, which met fleet reduction targets of previous programmes say this should be taken into account. They say that others which lagged,notably Britain, the Netherlands and Ireland, must catch up. Spain, which has the EU's biggest fleet, has cut its tonnage by nearly one-third to 450,000 tonnes over the past 10 years. Britain's Conservative government, fighting an uphill battle for re-election on May 1, has insisted that the EU must first solve the problem of "quota hoppers" -- vessels from one EU state which register in another to take part of its quota. British Fisheries Minister Tony Baldry is expected on Monday to reiterate that Britain won't implement the cuts until the "quota hoppers" are sorted out, British officials said, addin

g that there were still a lot of problems with the Dutch plan. Around 20 percent of the British national fish quota is now allocated to 150 foreign vessels, mainly Spanish and Dutch, legally registered under the British flag. The issue is being discussed separately as part of a review of the EU Treaty, due to be completed in June, diplomats said. They added that Britain risked being outvoted on the fish cuts after the European Commission signalled it could reluctantly accept the views of the majority of member states. Unanimity would otherwise have been required to overturn the Commission's proposal of May 1996 for fleet capacity cuts of up to 40 percent over six years to the end of 2002. Under the Dutch compromise, cuts of 30 percent and 20 percent would be made for endangered and overfished stocks over three years to the end of 1999. "The Commission would have preferred something stronger like our original proposal but we can go along withit," Fisheries spokesman Filippo di Robilant said. But mostmember st

ates still think the cuts proposed by the Dutch aretoo swingeing and will fight to ease them further. Under the Dutch plan, governments would now have flexibility in choosing whether to cut fish catches by laying up vessels, reducing fishing effort -- time spent huntingstocks in targeted areas with specified gear -- or a combination of both.