The European Union cut the catch quotas for cod and banned the fishing of certain endangered sharks in 2010 but opened a key fishing ground to produce a larger catch of anchovies.
The move by the EU fishing ministers was criticized Wednesday by environmentalists, who said that despite some of the cuts, the fish stocks are in a state of "permanent over-exploitation."
There has been a steep drop in fish stocks over the past 30 years and EU fishing ministers historically have ignored scientific advice in favor of higher quotas.
Scientists have estimated that in the 1970s there were more than 250,000 tons of cod in fishing grounds in the North Sea, the eastern English Channel and Scandinavia’s Skagerrak strait. In recent years, however, stocks have dropped to 50,000 tons.