The British EU presidency, which comes to a close at the end of the month, made a few concessions from proposals initially put forward by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, so as to seal the agreement.

All 25 EU nations taking part in the talks voted in favour of the deal, save Sweden, which abstained.

"We have achieved a good deal," British Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw told press conference in Brussels after the talks ended.

"I believe this agreement will help conserve fish stocks, preserve the marine environment and help the long-term future of the fishing industry," he said.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg hailed the deal as having struck the "right balance" in terms of protecting the environment without unduly penalising fishing fleets.

"All the measures adopted today confirmed our gradual approach, which allows for the recovery and protection of stocks and a continuation of fishing activities," he said.

However, calls by some environmental groups for an outright ban on cod fishing due to low stocks were rejected.

Amid particular pressure from the Scottish fishing industry, the number of days cod fleets can stay at sea was cut by five percent, not the 15 percent recommended by the European Commission.

France also expressed pleasure at achieving of lifting a ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay, in place since July. French fleets were granted a quota of 500 tonnes, with 500 more tonnes gained thanks to a quota swap with Spain.

The result was positive for France, following an "extremely difficult" meeting, French Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau said.

The marathon fishing talks have become somewhat of a pre-Christmas tradition in Brussels, with the ministers having sat down on Tuesday with a target of reaching a deal by dawn on Thursday.

Ahead of the discussions, the European Commission stressed that a "long-term approach" was needed to manage declining fish stocks.

"The situation of fish stocks in EU waters continues to give serious cause for concern, despite some good news for certain species," it said in a statement.

The annual review can have its drama.

French fishermen blockaded ports earlier this month over the prospect of more restrictions on how much fish they could net while environment campaigners are up in arms that the European Union does not do more to enforce fishing limits.

"EU member states do little or nothing to prevent deep-sea fishing by vessels without fishing allocations -- known as illegal or 'pirate' fishing," Greenpeace said in a statement.

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