FEARS were raised yesterday for the jobs of more than 300 North-East fishermen as the threat of huge cutbacks in North Sea cod quotas drew nearer.

Now urgent talks are to be held between the fishing industry and Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley.

Marine scientists yesterday confirmed advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) that stocks of cod in the North Sea were now close to collapse.

Yesterday, they told fishing industry representatives that catches for cod should be cut to their lowest-ever level.

The European Union fisheries council meets in Brussels next month to decide on the final quota levels.

Dennis Clark, North-East representative of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, last night raised dire fears for the future of the industry.

He said: "The EU is calling for a 30 per cent cut in fishing capacity, and we are becoming little more than a cottage industry."

Richard Brewer, director of Whitby's Anglo-Scottish Fish Producer Organisation, urged the Government to work with the industry to find solutions and not ignore North-East fishermen, which, he claimed, had happened in the past.

He said: "We would like to see more technical measures in place, such as increasing the mesh sizes of nets, which would allow juveniles through, or fishing could be banned in known spawning areas."

Mr Brewer said huge cutbacks would, in Whitby alone, put 15 vessels with 75 crew out of work -- as well as ancillary businesses.

In Westminster, Scarborough and Whitby MP Lawrie Quinn appealed for a Commons debate on the plight of the region's fishing communities.

The Labour MP acknowledged that there were "environmental impacts" to the proposals over the failure of the cod population in the North Sea.

Commons Leader Margaret Beckett was unable to promise a debate and stressed the economic impact had to be balanced with the environmental consequences.

Mr Morley last night warned that a cod recovery plan was now needed urgently to preserve the species and return it to sustainable levels.

He confirmed he would now have urgent talks with the fishing industry following yesterday's advice by scientific experts